In his last ever qualifying session in his Formula 1 career, Williams Martini Racing driver Felipe Massa just made it into Q3 to take tenth place on the grid for tomorrow, pushing McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team‘s Fernando Alonso out of the top ten.
The Brazilian driver believes that he got everything out of the car to get into the third stage of qualifying, and knows that he can now end his career (for the second time) with his head held high. His team-mate Lance Stroll had a difficult afternoon by contrast, only narrowly making it out of Q1 and then being knocked out in Q2.
“I’m so happy with the qualifying and with my lap,” commented Massa. “I just managed to get to Q3 and I got the best out of the car.
“I’m finishing with my head held high and showing that I’m at the top of competitiveness. I’m so happy with what I achieved and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s race. Some points would be great.”
William’s Chief Technical Officer Paddy Lowe acknowledged that Massa did a fantastic job in what were tricky conditions, with the rapidly changing temperatures at the Yas Marina Circuit.
“Today, one of the main focuses was on Felipe’s last Formula One qualifying. It’s tough out there competing in the midfield to get those places in Q3 and he did a tremendous job to achieve that.
“It was very difficult conditions with changing temperatures and the way that affects the tyres to try and make the tyres last through all three sectors. Putting that perfect lap together is really difficult, but we saw on Felipe’s final lap he did a great job, even just looking at the last corner.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough of an improvement to move up from tenth, but it was a great lap all the same.”
