F1: I’ll Be Challenging For Wins Next Year, Massa Insists

[Dare]

Wonder what Felipe was drinking in Brazil?Hehasn't learned
the nunber one rule at Ferrari

Thou shalt no tbest Fernando




 
Felipe Massa concluded the 2011 season with a fifth-place finish in front of his home crowd in Brazil...
 

Felipe Massa failed to register a single podium in 2011. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)


 Felipe Massa is confident that he can bounce back to winning form next year, in the wake of his disappointing 2011 season.
 
Massa failed to register a single podium, while teammate Fernando Alonso made the top three 10 times.
 
“It was a difficult race for us, a difficult season as well, but anyway, there’s nothing to say that we’re not going to be quick and consistent next year,” he said in Brazil. “I will be fighting very hard to be consistent and quick and back to the victories and the championship next year. We need to work hard as a team, but that’s the direction.”

Massa had a tricky race in Brazil after he suffered a puncture on one of his soft tires in qualifying. That left him with two sets of softs for the race, and he was thus stuck with a two-stop strategy of option-option-prime.
 
He still managed to entertain the crowd with a donut in front of the pits on the slowing-down lap.
 
“Yeah, for sure they deserved it, much more than me! It was a little bit of a thank you for them," the native Brazilian said. "It was a difficult race, definitely. I knew in the dry it would have been very, very difficult in the dry because yesterday I had a puncture in one of my soft tires, in the rear, and I couldn’t use those tires in the race.

“So I was obligated to do two stops, and we saw that our car on the hard tires was difficult, our pace was difficult. This was a very difficult race for me, knowing that in the dry it would be difficult because I couldn’t do the best strategy for the team.”
 
Nevertheless, he enjoyed running his 100th race for Ferrari in front of his home fans: “I think it was very nice, but when you drive for sure you just concentrate on your lap time and everything. But anyway, you could see the crowd very emotional, pushing you very hard from the beginning to the end.
 
“It was a very difficult season, so we celebrated a special time, a special moment for me, 10 years in F1 and 100 races for Ferrari. I would love to have finished this race in first position, but it was not possible.”

[cosworth151]

Maybe he expects Alonso to lock up the WDC early enough that the team can throw him a bone at Interlagos.