Heading to Bahrain, Felipe Massa held the unenviable statistic of being the only driver in the Formula 1 field, minus those from the three newest teams, not to have scored a point. He banished that fact on Sunday by finishing in ninth place.
With team-mate Fernando Alonso seventh, only two positions and seven seconds ahead of Massa, it was by far the Brazilian’s best showing of the season so far at a track on which he enjoyed impressive victories back in 2007 and 2008.
“It was definitely not a very easy race but in the end we managed to do a good job and, for the first time this year, finish in the points,” the Paulista commented. “It’s a nice result at this time, but we are well aware that it is not Ferrari’s style to be happy with ninth.
“Having said that, it is a performance that gives me confidence for the rest of the season. Clearly, we have to improve the performance of the car as soon as possible to be able to fight for worthwhile positions. In Barcelona, everyone will bring major updates and we will have had to do have done a better job than the others because we have to make up the ground lost at the start of this championship.”
Prior to the start of the European season in Spain, F1 conducts its first in-season test for race drivers since 2008; this will be staged at Mugello in Italy between 1 and 3 May.
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:35:10.990 |
| 2. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | +3.333 |
| 3. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | +10.194 |
| 4. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +38.788 |
| 5. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +55.460 |
| 6. | P. di Resta | Force India | +57.543 |
| 7. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +57.803 |
| 8. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +58.984 |
| 9. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +1:04.999 |
| 10. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | +1:11.490 |
| Full results | |||
| Felipe Massa | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| More Felipe Massa photos | |||
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