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Williams star driver Felipe Massa has become ‘the comeback man’ of Formula One and has his sights firmly set on standing back on the podium in Bahrain at a circuit where he has already claimed two victories.
When asked if he was looking forward to matching rival and former Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso with a hat-trick of successes at Sakhir, the Brazilian laughed and told GulfWeekly: “I am hoping for five!”
Racing pundits and followers of the sport will not be surprised by his confidence and fighting spirit. This is a man who is back on track, prepared to overcome whatever obstacle is placed in his way and delighted to be competing once more at the highest level.
The speed demon loves being a part of Williams and although the team has been to a modest start this year, he reckons there is still a lot of fire left in him to fight.
Massa, 33, who is currently fourth in the driver standings, said: “First of all, it’s a great pleasure to be part of such a famous and good team like Williams. I really respect them and Frank, the founder and team principal of the Williams Formula One racing team.
“In terms of the first two races, I think we are not so far away compared to how we expected to start the season. Definitely Ferrari was a little bit better than we expected but I believe we can fight.
“We have scored some good points and we are still at the beginning, but we are really working to be better and better with every race.
“Hopefully there’s the possibility of fighting for the podium with Ferrari and Mercedes as well.”
In the opening race of the season in Australia, Massa finished fourth starting in third and opting for a one-stop strategy. Massa lost a place to the Ferrari of Vettel after being jumped at the first pit stop, but after that showed consistent pace to bring the car home with 12 points to kick-start this year’s adventure.
Massa didn’t think they had a fantastic day in the second outing in Malaysia as the team suffered problems in the pit stop which cost him time. His Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas was able to catch him in the final few laps and as he put it ‘it was good to race wheel-to-wheel’. Bottas came in fifth and Massa followed in sixth place.
In China, although he suffered a scare during a practice session after a rear-wing failure caused him to spin off the track at 200-plus mph, Massa still finished fifth with his teammate right behind him.
Massa said: “We had a good race and I managed to get the most out of the car. The team performed very well but we just don’t have the raw speed to catch the cars in front. I will work on my start as that is really the only thing that went wrong for us. We have scored the most amounts of points available to us.”
Massa’s next stop is Bahrain and he is looking forward to racing this weekend in the kingdom he loves. He said: “Bahrain’s track is one that I really enjoy and I have had a lot of good races there, especially my two victories.
“It would be good to have another one. The fans and the people are really nice and it’s a great place to be. I really hope everyone is going to come to the circuit to watch and support us. I am really looking forward to putting on a great show.
“Also, this will be the first night race of the season and I like night races. It’s a good feeling to race in the evening, the lights are pretty good and we are not suffering from the heat.”
When asked what it takes to be a champion, whether it’s chalked up to being a good driver, the quality of the car, or the team, Massa confidently said: “It’s a combination of all those things put together. If you do not have all those three things together it will be difficult.”
It appears Massa has found all three in Williams and is clearly thankful to be racing for glory in Bahrain … a massive achievement considering the fact that in 2009 he suffered a fractured skull during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
He was put in a medically-induced coma and nearly lost an eye, and demonstrated remarkable courage by clambering back into the hot-seat and remains a serious contender for success in 2015.
