Felipe Massa felt he could have finished higher in the Italian Grand Prix than ninth after struggling with the Soft Pirelli tyre compound, feeling his pace only came on strong when he switched to the Supersoft compound.
The Williams Martini Racing driver, who announced he would be retiring from Formula 1 at the end of the season earlier this weekend, started eleventh on the grid on the slower tyre, but made most of his gains when he switched to the softer option, and was happy to be able to contribute to the team regaining fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship from Sahara Force India.
“I think it was a good race apart from the fact that we didn’t have the pace we expected to have with the option tyres,” said Massa, who finished just 0.663 seconds behind Force India’s Sergio Perez. “My race started after I changed on to the supersoft tyres and my pace was really good.
“If I could have got a bit more out of my tyres then it could have been better but I’m pleased that we managed to get enough points to take fourth place back in the Constructors’ Championship.”
