Felipe Massa has a good record at the Bahrain International Circuit, taking two victories during his time with Scuderia Ferrari back in 2007 and 2008, and has finished inside the points in his three previous races with his current team.
The Williams Martini Racing driver endured a tough Chinese Grand Prix last weekend, struggling to get temperature in his tyres in the damp and cold conditions, and is already looking to put the race behind him.
“I’m really disappointed today as everything went wrong for us,” said Massa. “I had too much wheelspin at the start, and then behind the safety car we had five slow laps on the dry tyres, so they were completely cold.
“I wasn’t able to drive in the proper way because it felt like I was driving on ice. That was the worst part; we lost so much time and so many positions. Then we tried to risk stopping before the others to see if we could pass people and keep up the pace, but I couldn’t.”
Heading into Bahrain, Massa knows it is important to have a strong car under braking, and is hoping to return to the kind of result that he achieved in the season opener in Australia when he finished sixth.
“As a track it’s a little bit different to the others,” said Massa. “You need to have a car that is strong under braking, which is especially important for this track. You also need a reliable car that has good speed and traction.
“I really like Bahrain, I’ve won there twice so it’s definitely a place I enjoy going to. I really hope we can have a good race there this year.”
