Felipe Massa finished tenth to score a solitary point at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, ending a run of four races without a points finish, but the veteran Brazilian admitted it was a difficult race.
The Williams Martini Racing driver found himself embroiled in the scrap for sixth place with the team-mate Valtteri Bottas, Scuderia Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, as well as McLaren-Honda’s Fernando Alonso, but found himself shuffled to the back of that pack in the closing laps as he struggled with his tyres.
The hotter than expected temperatures at Spa-Francorchamps made tyre conservation difficult for many drivers, and Massa found at first hand what happens when the grip disappears as he dropped to tenth from seventh in just a handful of laps.
“It was a very difficult race,” revealed Massa. “Trying to look after the tyres until the end and checking the tyre pressures while we were racing was tough.
“It was difficult to stay out long enough on track. When the tyres were there we were fighting for a great position but when the tyres went off we just couldn’t fight anymore.”
