Hamilton still 'trying to find balance'

Lewis Hamilton had only minor complaints about his first day of running in Canada, confident he can get his MP4-26 dialled in ahead of qualifying

Hamilton finished fourth quickest in Friday's second practice, clocking a 1:15.977, which put him just 0.870s behind Fernando Alonso.

However, it wasn't a perfect day for the McLaren driver, who suffered a puncture and also struggled to his car dialled in.

But despite those small issues, Hamilton is confident McLaren have the race-pace needed to fight at the front of the pack in Montreal.

"It was a very good session and a positive day for me. In P2, I think some debris from one of the incidents must have caused my puncture because I'd only just left the pits when I suddenly felt the rear sliding about," said the 26-year-old

"Nevertheless, we got through a lot of test components. I'm still trying to find the exact balance I need, and I'm not quite sure which direction I want to follow with my car, so I'll sit down with my engineers to analyse the data this evening.

"Our long-run pace is pretty good; the speed is there. It looks very close once again between Red Bull, Ferrari and ourselves, so we'll work on qualifying, get the car nicely dialled in and then I'll keep my fingers crossed."

Friday's running was marred by four accidents, three of which resulted in red flags. However, as Hamilton put it, that's the nature of Montreal, it leaves no room for error.

"It's surprising to see so many incidents here, but it's such a demanding and slippery circuit that I guess some people just got caught out today. We're all testing the limits of our cars and you can't blame people for trying.

"There's no room for mistakes around a place like this and, unfortunately, some people paid the price today - but they'll bounce back tomorrow."

Source: Planet-F1

Vettel recalls Canada ’sex club’ memory

Sebastian Vettel has revealed a few of his biggest memories of Canada after returning to Montreal for this weekend’s grand prix.

In 2007, then a teenager, he was in the pits when Robert Kubica crashed heavily in the BMW-Sauber, leading to his grand prix debut in the US a week later.

Four years on, German Vettel has won 15 of his 68 grands prix, sat on pole 20 times and is the youngest champion in F1 history, and in 2011 is back in Canada as the runaway title leader.

But the next chapter was a catering strike during his first-class flight from Switzerland this week, meaning he had to eat his own home-made sandwiches.

"I’m not a fan of airplane food," laughed Vettel.

To Blick newspaper, he recalls the eve of his last-minute debut in Kubica’s BMW in 2007.

"Yeah, the Sauber mechanics one night dragged me into one of these famous sex clubs (in Montreal)," revealed Vettel.

"When two girls got busy with each other right before my eyes, it was too much and I left!"

And he said that last year in Canada, someone stole his credit card.

"By the time I noticed and cancelled the card, the stranger had already had a $600 dinner with wine at my expense," laughed Vettel.

Source: Nextgen

Lewis Hamilton eyes strong result

Lewis Hamilton is relishing being amongst friends this weekend as he escapes the animosity that followed his on-and-off-track Monaco madness

Hamilton was forced to make a handful of apologies in the wake of his contentious sixth-placed finish in the principality 10 days ago.

Initially Hamilton "made peace" with the four-man panel of stewards after suggesting, via an apparent joke that badly backfired, that his skin colour lay at the heart of their decision making.

The 26-year-old vented his frustration against the stewards after being penalised three times over the course of the weekend, and five times in six races this year.

Hamilton was given drive-through penalties - one retrospectively - for causing a collision with first Felipe Massa in his Ferrari and then Williams' Pastor Maldonado, the latter at a time when he was on course to score his first points for the team.

The McLaren star described the Brazilian and Venezuelan as "ridiculous" during his post-race outburst, later apologising to both men via his Twitter account on which he had also been abused in the aftermath of what unfolded.

Hamilton has already made it clear a victory in one of his favourite races, the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend, will help put the stigma of what happened in and after Monte Carlo behind him.

Aiming for a third win in five races at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Hamilton said: "Montreal is a very special place for me.

"It's where I took my first Formula One pole position and won my first race. I also won there last year from pole.

"I've always got on really well with the track as the layout seems to suit my driving style.

"Perhaps even more importantly the fans in Montreal, and everyone in North America who makes the trip to the city, are some of the best in the world.

"They are so positive, supportive and friendly. My trips to the city have been some of my favourite experiences in Formula One.

"I'm massively looking forward to arriving in Montreal to a friendly welcome."

With Hamilton currently 58 points adrift of reigning Champion and current leader Sebastian Vettel, he knows a third Canadian win is a must this weekend.

"Our car should be well suited to this track," said Hamilton, who led a McLaren one-two with Jenson Button a year ago.

"We have a great engine, the best KERS (power boost) system in the sport and excellent traction out of slow corners.

"All in all it's set to be another good weekend for us. I'll be looking for a strong result on Sunday."

Source: Planet-F1

Alonso's Blog: We want to make another step forward

After a brief cycle of races in Europe, here we are again on another long intercontinental voyage, this time heading West. The Montreal race is one of the most popular with the drivers and the teams: the city is very welcoming and the people are very interested in Formula 1, to the extent that the grandstands are already busy on Friday.

I arrived yesterday evening and this afternoon I popped down to the track to meet up with the team. I found that the boys were in good spirits, wanting to demonstrate here that Monte Carlo wasn’t a flash in the pan. There is promise that it can happen. Even though it has some very fast stretches, the Canadian track suits cars which can jump over the kerbs without losing too much balance and cars that have good traction on the exits of the slow corners. Those are both characteristics that are among the strong points of the 150° Italia.

Here aerodynamic efficiency, which is our Achilles Heel at the moment, is less important and so we think we can have more chance to fight for the top places. Brakes are another fundamental factor on this circuit: we will need to work hard during free practice to understand the correct level of cooling in order to avoid the risk of problems in the race.

In Montreal we will again have the two soft tyre compounds prepared by Pirelli: the Soft and the Supersoft. Last year this was one of the few races in which we saw more pit stops than the traditional one-stop because the degradation of the tyres is quite high. Even though the Pirellis are different to the Bridgestones, I don’t think we will see anyone manage to get to the end of the race with only one tyre change, as we saw in Monaco. As we have seen this year, it will be important to pick the right moment for the pit stop so as not to lose too much time compared to your direct rivals.

For the first time this year we will have two places where it will be possible to use the DRS on Sunday: the first is after the apex of Turn 10, the second on the pit straight. I’m interested to see what will happen: on paper whoever manages to pass in the first zone will then have a big advantage because they will be able to use the movable wing again on the main straight, even though they are ahead of the car they are battling.

Last year I managed to make the podium but we left Montreal with a definite sensation of having deserved more than our eventual third place. There were a couple of episodes that didn’t go well for us that prevented us from picking up the win that was within our reach. We also had the chance to win at Monaco ten days ago and it would have been good to have won there because wins have now eluded us for too long. It remains very difficult because I expect McLaren and Red Bull to be very strong but we must not count anything out.

The second third of the season is starting and the situation in the championship is far from favourable. It’s true that there are still many races to go but it’s clear that we must try to find a catalyst for this title chase in terms of points. We hope to start straightaway, on a track that carries the name of one of the drivers who is most loved by Ferrari’s tifosi: Gilles Villeneuve.

Source: ferrari.com

Massa's Blog: A Brazilian break

Given that the next race is in Canada, I’ve made the most of that to head home to Brazil, to spend a few days there with my family. The last few weeks were very busy, with three races crammed into the month of May and now a bit of a break is in order. Before flying off to Sao Paolo, I spent a day in Italy, in Parma, where I played alongside Fernando and Giancarlo in a three-way charity football tournament. Me and the other Ferrari guys were playing as part of the Telethon team, the association that raises funds for research into rare and genetic illness.

Those three races in May did not go well for me. I failed to pick up points and my biggest regret came in the last of the three, in Monaco. As Fernando showed, by fighting at the front right to the end, we had a very good potential there and I think I could have finished the race in fourth place. Unfortunately, there was the accident with Hamilton, which put me out of the running: a real shame, but there’s little point in going over it again. I said what I wanted to about the incident after the race and now it’s not worth wasting more time over it, so it’s better to look ahead.

For the spectators – and unfortunately I was one of them – the second part of the race was very exciting. It’s a shame that the red flag pretty much ended the three way battle at the front of the field ahead of schedule. The rules in this case allow tyres to be changed if the race is suspended and so the final laps lost their significance, because both Fernando and Sebastian were on reasonably fresh tyres and, in these circumstances, overtaking at Monaco is still practically impossible, even with KERS and DRS.

The weekend was marked by several accidents, the most serious being those that involved Rosberg and Perez. Nico was lucky, as he did not hit the wall at the chicane after the tunnel, but Sergio hit it hard: I am happy he is out of hospital and I hope we can see him back in action in Montreal already. It’s true that Monaco, by its very nature, will always have an element of risk attached and that particular barrier is probably the most critical point if you lose control of the car or if something breaks. We have often spoken about it in the past, because it has been the scene of several accidents and I hope a solution can be found to improve the position of the barrier at that particular point on the circuit.

There was at least one positive aspect to the weekend and that is the fact our car was much more competitive than we had seen it at the previous race. Finally, we could fight all the way to the end, even if circumstances meant that only applied to one of us. Our pace was very good and I hope that will also be the case in Canada and Valencia. We should have some new technical updates there, which along with the softer tyres, should be a help, on paper at least and then we will see what the actual situation is, starting on Friday in Montreal.

Source: Ferrari.com

Webber backs gearbox change over conspiracy theories

Mark Webber is not promoting any of the conspiracy theories after losing his championship lead in Canada last week.

After their infamous Turkey crash, the Australian qualified ahead of his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel in Montreal.

But he had to move back five grid places after a precautionary gearbox change.

Some pundits joked that Dr Helmut Marko, who allegedly favours Vettel, must have taken a crowbar to Webber's transmission.

"I would also have changed the gearbox," the 33-year-old is quoted as saying by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

"It's better to lose a few places but still get to the finish line. In my situation, I need every point," said Webber.

Webber's problem was not the only one for Red Bull on Sunday; Vettel was also asked to slow down with what team boss Christian Horner confirms was a "gearbox-related issue".

At least the Istanbul saga seems now to be in the past. On Wednesday evening in Canada, Webber and Vettel jointly shouted the entire race team to dinner.

"I ordered the most expensive meal on the menu, because I know how hard it is to separate drivers from their money," laughed Horner.

Source: Motorsport.com

Prac Three: Four teams fighting for P1

Lewis Hamilton may have finished Saturday's final practice at the top of the timesheets but he by no means had it all his own way

The McLaren driver, a pre-weekend favourite to win Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix, clocked a 1:16.058, giving him the upper hand ahead of Saturday's qualifying.

However, he was closely dogged by his rivals with three drivers from different teams all vying for the top spot.

Mark Webber finished in second place for Red Bull, Fernando Alonso third for Ferrari and Michael Schumacher fourth for Mercedes GP - and all three were within half a second of Hamilton's P1 time.

Report: Final practice for the Canadian GP got underway under dark skies with the track once again green after overnight and early morning rain washed away any rubber that had been laid down during Friday's two sessions. However, the track was dry in most places with only a few damp spots still remaining. Track temperature was 21'C with the air temp sitting at 19'C as the drivers got their installation laps out of the way before returning to the pits where they waited for the track to dry out some more.

20 minutes into the session, Timo Glock posted the day's first lap time, a 1:24.902 for the Virgin Racing driver. Kamui Kobayashi, Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari joined the action, slotting in ahead of Glock while Lucas di Grassi was right behind his team-mate. Alguersuari improved to first place, lowering the benchmark to a 1:18.862 while Fernando Alonso took second place, Jenson Button fourth and Robert Kubica fifth, bringing the grand total to ten drivers to have set times in the first half of the session.

With time running out and the track drying, more drivers ventured out with Alonso taking first place before being dropped by Lewis Hamilton, the Brit clocking a 1:17.689. Button followed his team-mate up the timesheets while Michael Schumacher put his Mercedes GP into fifth place on his first attempt, third on his second lap and then second. However, another spate of purple sector times saw Hamilton lower the benchmark to a 1:17.131.

A good run from Tonio Liuzzi put the Force India up into fourth place, although that did not last long as Sebastian Vettel, Friday's pace-setter, slotted in ahead of him. Button was the next to lead the way, going fastest with a 1:16.699. He was soon challenged by Vettel, however, the German fell short and had to settle for second. Second soon become third as Hamilton again went quickest, almost half a second up on Button before Vettel also overhauled the reigning Champ.

With twenty minutes left on the clock there was still no sign of Nico Rosberg or Karun Chandhok, the latter's car believed to be suffering with a hydraulic leak.

Alonso moved up to fifth place and then second while Mark Webber was another on the move, going sixth, then fourth and then second. Felipe Massa climbed to seventh place and Kubica to sixth. That was the followed by a few minutes of relative quiet as the majority of the drivers returned to the pits before their final charge of the session.

There was a flurry of activity in the final five minutes with Webber closing the gap to Hamilton, although not able to take the lead off him, Kubica almost met the Wall of Champions as did Pedro de la Rosa, Petrov moved up to eighth place, Webber again closed up on Hamilton, just 0.081s slower than the McLaren driver, Kubica got a bit irritated with traffic, Hamilton lowered the benchmark to a 1:16.058, Rosberg finally ventured out to set a time, Kubica overhauled Button for fifth, Petrov leapfrogged Schumacher, Sutil leapfrogged them both and Button, Schumacher took fourth place and di Grassi lost it at the Hairpin, sliding along the wall before spinning and beaching his car in the gravel nd bringing out the yellow flag and effectively ending the session.

Times:

01. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.058 15 laps
02. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:16.340 + 0.282 16 laps
03. Alonso Ferrari 1:16.495 + 0.437 19 laps
04. Schumacher Mercedes 1:16.536 + 0.478 15 laps
05. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:16.582 + 0.524 16 laps
06. Kubica Renault 1:16.653 + 0.595 18 laps
07. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:16.673 + 0.615 15 laps
08. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.699 + 0.641 16 laps
09. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:16.814 + 0.756 15 laps
10. Petrov Renault 1:16.982 + 0.924 18 laps
11. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:17.121 + 1.063 16 laps
12. Massa Ferrari 1:17.231 + 1.173 16 laps
13. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.331 + 1.273 22 laps
14. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:17.548 + 1.490 20 laps
15. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:17.609 + 1.551 16 laps
16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.633 + 1.575 21 laps
17. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:17.789 + 1.731 18 laps
18. Rosberg Mercedes 1:17.979 + 1.921 4 laps
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:19.013 + 2.955 15 laps
20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:19.447 + 3.389 16 laps
21. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:19.536 + 3.478 22 laps
22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:19.844 + 3.786 20 laps
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:20.325 + 4.267 18 laps
24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1 lap

Source: Planet-F1

Prac One: Button seizes early advantage

Jenson Button set the early pace as F1 returned to Montreal, clocking a 1:18.127 to finish Practice One ahead of Michael Schumacher

With the drivers complaining of an extremely dirty track, it wasn't until halfway through the session that the big-named drivers finally ventured out. And then the battle was on to see which of the two McLaren drivers would dominate.

Eventually it was Button who emerged ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, however, the McLaren 1-2 did not last as Schumacher nosed in, taking second place, 0.158s off the pace.

Nico Rosberg was fourth quickest ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Robert Kubica, Fernando Alonso and Tonio Liuzzi.

Report: The first practice session for the Canadian GP got underway under dark skies and with the track temperature sitting at 23'C. The circuit was dry after Thursday's rain as the drivers ventured out for their installation laps, taking a first look at some of the newly resurfaced areas including the Senna S, Turn 6 and the hairpin.

With the drivers complaining of how dirty the track is, Heikki Kovalainen liking it to "a rally Finland stage", they all headed back into the pits, waiting for someone else to start the cleaning process. Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi got the ball rolling when, more than 30 minutes into the session, he clocked a 1:28.723. Jaime Alguersuari joined the action with the two trading fastest lap times while Nico Hulkenberg took third ahead of Bruno Senna and Sebastien Buemi.

Halfway through the session, Hulkenberg led with a 1:21.107, ahead of Kobayashi, Rubens Barrichello, Buemi, Alguersuari, Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen, Senna and Karun Chandhok. But they weren't only the top nine - they were also the only nine to have set times.

Reigning World Champ Jenson Button was the first of the big boys to venture out, sparking a run from his rivals. Michael Schumacher immediately went quickest with a 1:19.814 before he was beaten by Lewis Hamilton by 0.106s. Button claimed fourth place, Mark Webber eighth, Nico Rosberg fourth and then Button took over the P1 slot, making it a McLaren 1-2. Felipe Massa put his Ferrari into fourth place while Fernando Alonso could only manage 13th.

Hamilton returned to the front of the pack, breaking into the 1:18s while Schumacher went second and then lost it to Button. Alonso climbed to fourth place while Sebastian Vettel was down in 14th place. The Red Bull racer, though, improved to eighth on his next lap as slowly but surely the top four teams took over the top eight positions on the timesheets.

With thirty minutes remaining in the session, Button claimed the P1 slot off Hamilton, Rosberg had moved to third ahead of Schumacher and Massa fifth in front of Alonso. Vettel claimed another place and Robert Kubica took eighth place while Webber had a close encounter with the Wall of Champions.

Alonso, another to take a peek at the Wall, improved to third place but opted to check out the grass on his next lap. Vitaly Petrov was another to decide that the grass needed mowing. His Renault team-mate Kubica climbed to sixth place while Adrian Sutil broke into the top eight.

Lucas di Grassi brought out the first yellow flags of the session as his Virgin broke down out on track and Pedro de la Rosa almost collected a Force India as his spun at the hairpin. Schumacher moved up to second place, 0.158s behind Button.

The final five minutes saw Vettel improve to seventh place, Liuzzi to eighth, Schumacher ran wide, Vettel almost kissed the Wall and then ran straight on at his next attempt, Rosberg went fourth and Vettel fifth.

Times:

01. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:18.127 23 laps
02. Schumacher Mercedes 1:18.285 + 0.158 19 laps
03. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:18.352 + 0.225 19 laps
04. Rosberg Mercedes 1:18.356 + 0.229 23 laps
05. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:18.549 + 0.422 27 laps
06. Kubica Renault 1:18.662 + 0.535 19 laps
07. Alonso Ferrari 1:18.726 + 0.599 21 laps
08. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:19.097 + 0.970 25 laps
09. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:19.282 + 1.155 31 laps
10. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:19.313 + 1.186 19 laps
11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:19.373 + 1.246 12 laps
12. Massa Ferrari 1:19.511 + 1.384 21 laps
13. Petrov Renault 1:19.549 + 1.422 24 laps
14. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:19.609 + 1.482 26 laps
15. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:20.186 + 2.059 33 laps
16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:20.320 + 2.193 27 laps
17. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:20.584 + 2.457 21 laps
18. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:20.823 + 2.696 28 laps
19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:21.869 + 3.742 24 laps
20. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:21.977 + 3.850 27 laps
21. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:22.543 + 4.416 12 laps
22. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:22.701 + 4.574 28 laps
23. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:22.713 + 4.586 20 laps
24. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 4 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Massa's Blog: Ferrari, my “other” family

Posted by Felipe Massa

As you have possibly heard already, I will be racing for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro until the end of the 2012 season. I am delighted that we have reached this agreement, as I really feel as though everyone in Maranello is part of my other family, with our relationship going much further than just a working partnership. From a purely professional point of view it is great to know what I am doing so early on in the current season, which means I can now concentrate a hundred percent on the rest of this year’s races.

I have arrived in Montreal, ready for this weekend’s Grand Prix and I have to say it’s nice to be back after Formula 1’s year away, because this is one of the nicest race’s of the year, with the whole city making all of us feel very welcome. After the race in Istanbul, I went back home to spend a few days in Sao Paolo and I have taken a few days to get here, as I had to attend some events for Ferrari team partners along the way. Thanks to Shell, I made my first ever visit to an off-shore oil rig, just over a hundred kilometres away from the Brazilian coast line. It was a very interesting experience and it was incredible to see how complicated is the extraction process and management of the crude oil on the platform. When I was at the control desk, it reminded me of looking at the telemetry from our cars when we are on track: every parameter can be studied in real time 24 hours a day. Here too, teamwork is the key and each individual has to work in harmony with everyone else to get the job done as well as possible. They are together almost all the time for at least two weeks at a time and it’s vital that every member of the group feels responsible for what they do and is ready to help those around them. It’s the very same in a Formula 1 team. Instead of flying north to Canada after this unusual day, I had another stop over to make, this time in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, for a promotional appearance with our partner Philip Morris and from there, I finally took another long flight to Montreal.

Even though I like the circuit here, with the challenge of running in low downforce configuration on a narrow track that is an unusual mix of a race track and street circuit, I have not had much luck in Canada. In fact, my best result dates back to my final year with Sauber in 2005, when I finished fourth. The last two races here were particularly tough for me: in 2007, I was penalised for leaving pit lane when the red light was on and the last time we were here, in 2008, there was a problem with the refuelling at my pit stop, which cost me at least a podium finish, but my car was really working well and I managed to move up from the back of the pack to finish fifth at the flag. This year, I hope we have a better time and that should be possible, because I expect our F10 to be more competitive than in Turkey. A good race should be on the cards, as the track has some similarities to Melbourne and Sakhir, where we were front runners. But as usual, we won’t really know where we stand until the end of Friday’s two practice sessions.

Source: Massa's Blog - Ferrari.com

A karting challenge

Montreal, 10 June – Almost the entire Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team, here in Canada for the eighth round of the Formula 1 World Championship, met up last night for a special go-kart race, with the personnel split into five times, one of them all women.

This friendly tournament organised by the team at an indoor venue a few minutes from the centre of Montreal, brought together engineers, mechanics, catering crew and logistics, with every competitor getting two chances to race.

At the end of an unforgettable evening, with a very unexpected grid, the twelve fastest took part in a race with a standing start. The Scuderia’s race drivers tackled the race with great professionalism, in a group that also included the latest addition to the Ferrari Driver Academy ranks, Laurence Stroll.

The eleven year old Canadian, who was yesterday announced as one of the young hopefuls of the Maranello school, lapped as quickly as the best, taking second place between Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa in the final classification.

Source: Ferrari.com

FIA press conference schedule - Canada

Former Montreal winners Robert Kubica and Lewis Hamilton will be among the drivers answering questions on Thursday, while on Friday the spotlight falls on team bosses from Renault, Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren. The line-up in full…

Thursday, June 10, 1100 hours local time (1500 GMT):
Lucas Di Grassi (Virgin), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Robert Kubica (Renault), Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Nico Rosberg (Mercedes).

Friday, June 11, 1600 hours local time (2000 GMT):
Eric Boullier (Renault), Norbert Haug (Mercedes), Christian Horner (Red Bull) and Martin Whitmarsh (McLaren).

The qualifying and post-race conferences with the top three drivers will take place immediately after the respective sessions.

Source: Formula1.com

Massa's Blog: Try to fight back immediately

Posted by Felipe Massa

I am back home in Brazil, having taken the long flight from Istanbul on the Sunday night after the Turkish Grand Prix. I have to say, it’s good to be back in Sao Paolo as it’s been a few months since I was last here. I have some promotional work to do in South America and also, at least it’s the right side of the Atlantic for the next race in Canada.

Looking back at the Turkish Grand Prix, I think the only honest way to describe it is as the poorest performance from Scuderia Ferrari so far this season. We were uncompetitive through the whole weekend from Friday through to Sunday, struggling in every session, especially qualifying. So, when it came to the race, I think we did the best we could do, given our pace and our position on the grid. It was a shame, given that the Istanbul track is one of my favourites, where I have won three times in the past at the wheel of a great car. This time, it was not so positive, but no way are we going to give up and we must just keep on working and try to fight back immediately.

We can do it, because we did a fantastic job over the last winter and came out with a great car at the start of the year, which was a massive improvement compared to the car with which we ended the 2009 season. At that point, we had found the right direction to take in working on the car. However, from a certain moment of the season up until now, our development has not seen the car improve as much as we had hoped for or expected. In the same time period, we saw our competitors improve their cars significantly. This is the situation facing us now, so we must start by understanding why the good direction we had up until that moment has not continued. I am sure we can do it, because Ferrari has the capacity in terms of the people working for the team and also because it has come from behind in the past to again be competitive with the very best cars on the grid.

As far as the championships are concerned, the situation is not yet in a critical position for us: given that there are still twelve races to go, it is one hundred percent open, which means we can still fight for both championships. However, at the moment, it’s true that Red Bull has a better performance level, as it has done all season, while McLaren which was behind us a few races ago is now ahead of us in terms of their car performance. We simply have to push hard to try and get ahead again. If the ability to achieve this goal is based on our desire to do so, then I am confident we can improve.

Source: Massa's Blog - Ferrari.com