Currently, I am back in Brazil, having left Japan on Monday after the race. I know it’s a long way to go home and that I have to return to the Far East quite soon, but jet lag has never bothered me much and it suited my plans to come here, spend time with the family and get on with my training.
I had really been looking forward to returning to Suzuka for the first time since 2006, as I had always enjoyed this circuit and had missed its return to the calendar last year, while I was recovering from my Budapest accident and therefore I was very keen to tackle this race. You can imagine how very disappointing it was come the end of Sunday, when everything that could go wrong did go wrong for me in Suzuka.
It was clear, right from the start that the Red Bulls were going to be practically unbeatable at this circuit, but even so being so many rows behind them was very frustrating for me. The story of qualifying was all about traffic: when I fitted the soft tyres in Q2 I had traffic in the first sector with Jenson coming out of the pits and then I got a lot more of it in the second sector at Spoon corner, where I found myself behind Kubica and all that cost me enough tenths to miss out on getting through to Q3. Of course, when you start from the sixth row of the grid, there is always a chance you are going to get mixed up in some trouble and that is exactly what happened, when I ended up crashing out of the race at the first corner. A very bad Sunday for me.
Even though I am going through a particularly difficult time right now with a lack of results in the last couple of races, I know I can count on the support of the team, who have always been behind me one hundred percent, especially in the difficult times. I was very pleased to read what our president Montezemolo said after the Japanese Grand Prix. Knowing he has faith in me is something I truly appreciate: he has an excellent understanding of the sport and he knows that you can sometimes go through tough times. The fact his support is always there is very important.
My desire to do as well as possible for me and for the team is the same as ever and that has been my approach to the sport ever since I started in Formula 1. You have to maintain a positive approach, especially as the team is locked into a very tough fight with two goals in mind, even if the situation in the Constructors’ championship has become very difficult. Everyone must put in 110% effort in order to succeed and that is definitely what I’ll be doing for the remaining weeks of the season.
Source: Massa's Blog - Ferrari.com
