Felipe Massa is worried about his pace leading into tomorrow’s Austrian Grand Prix qualifying session, having failed to break into the Top 10 during free practice.
Massa is coming off the back of a bitterly disappointing retirement from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix two weeks prior, having been in contention for a podium around the streets of Baku, but faces an uphill battle to be similarly competitive here.
“It definitely wasn’t an easy Friday for us,” he said. “We were struggling with balance in the car, with some difference between high speed and low speed.
“I just wasn’t happy with the balance and there’s work to do to improve for tomorrow.”
The Brazilian made clear the team’s current pace would not suffice for a good grid position in Sunday’s race, especially given the narrow field spread, with half a second separating 6th and 15th place in the second free practice session.
“I really hope our lap times are better and we can be more competitive in qualifying.”
It is an especially disappointing situation for Massa to be in, given his positive track record around the Red Bull Ring. He claimed his only pole position since joining Williams in the 2014 edition of the race – a Williams front-row lockout with Valtteri Bottas in second – and scored a podium the following year.
