Felipe Massa was pleased to finish seventh for the Williams Martini Racing Team but felt fifth place was possible especially after battling with Carlos Sainz Jr. in the closing laps.
Massa’s seventh place is valuable for the Constructors battle with the Sahara Force India F1 Team, as the Brazilian closed the gap to eight points.
“I was really unlucky with the virtual safety car because I was nine seconds ahead and then Sainz came out in front of me, gaining a lot of time and points. At the end, Fernando dived into the corner I was taking, hit my car and I got a puncture because of it. It destroyed every opportunity I had to finish the race in sixth, and potentially fifth.
“We still finished seventh and closed the gap to Force India, but it should have been more. It’s time to look ahead to Mexico.”
His seventh place was helped out by retirements from Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari, but Massa believed if he had overtaken Sainz then fifth place was possible. The Brazilian had a strong start and opening stint overtaking two cars and creating a comfortable lead over the chasing pack.
“I had a really good start and the race was going fantastically. I avoided the incidents at corner one and managed to overtake two cars. Our pace was really good and I managed to open up the gap to the cars behind.”
