Felipe Massa admitted he was both disappointed and surprised to find himself eliminated from qualifying before the top ten shootout, and will start in his lowest ever grid slot for his home Grand Prix at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.
The Williams Martini Racing driver went into the qualifying session expecting to be inside the top ten after good pace throughout practice, but it was not to be as tyre struggles restricted his lap times, and he will start thirteenth as a result.
Despite this, Massa is hoping to give the passionate Brazilian fans something to cheer about on Sunday in what will be his final Formula 1 race at the circuit before retirement.
“This definitely wasn’t the greatest result because I expected to easily be fighting in Q3,” said Massa. “The car didn’t work in the proper way and the front tyres stopped working.
“I was suffering from understeer and my best lap of Q2 ended up being my first one, so we need to understand what happened. But it was absolutely amazing to get out of the car and feel the support from the crowd, and to feel the love I have for these people as well as the love they have for me.
“I’m not happy with the result for them, but I will try everything I can tomorrow to give them a better result, as well as for my team, especially as it’s my last race here in Brazil.”
