Felipe Massa started his 2017 season with a sixth place finish in the Australian Grand Prix, feeling everything came together for the veteran Brazilian.
The Williams Martini Racing driver made a good start to jump ahead of Romain Grosjean and run in the sixth position, and once the Haas F1 Team racer retired, it was a straightforward run to the chequered flag, finishing as the last driver on the lead lap.
“It was definitely a good race,” said Massa. “I knew the most important thing for me was to overtake Grosjean at the start, because the competition was looking more with him than with the other guys in front who I knew would be very difficult to beat such as Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes.
“I had a very good start and passed him, then my race was free from there until the end. The result was just great. I was so happy with the whole race. The way I was managing the tyres, the consistency, the work from the whole team, the pitstop – everything worked really well.”
Massa felt the team defeated those behind them ‘in the right way’ and it bodes well for the rest of the season as the Grove-based team look to make progress in the Constructors’ Championship in 2017 after dropping to fifth last year.
“We managed to beat the teams behind us in the right way,” said Massa. “This is something we can really think about in terms of working towards the World Championship. I’m really happy with the result today, so thanks to the whole team. Not bad for an old boy!”
