Webber: Margin for error very fine

Although he feels his start in Spain wasn't as "hideous" as some suggest it was, Mark Webber admits there is not much room for error

Webber started on pole position for the first time this season after ending his team-mate Sebastian Vettel's qualifying dominance on Saturday.

However, his joy was short-lived on Sunday as he allowed both Fernando Alonso and Vettel to pass him off the start.

It was always going to be an uphill battle for the Australian after that as it affected his strategy for the rest of the race.

"I don't think the start was hideous," he told BBC Sport.

"Fernando got a phenomenal one, he got down the inside and I was a bit compromised and then Seb was on the outside. It was not the start we had planned and then it was just chess from there. People covered each other off stops.

"At the end of the race I finished 40 seconds behind Lewis and Fernando finishes a lap behind the leader. Interesting day today and it goes to show you how fine the margins are when you are off a little bit on strategy. If you can't clear people at the right time, you get exposed. At certain stages I was quick, other stages I wasn't."

Source:Planet-F1

Massa bemoans qualifying error

Felipe Massa said he made a 'significant mistake' during the final session of qualifying, which means he will line up a disappointing tenth on the grid for the Turkish Grand Prix.

Having looked to have had the edge over his team-mate Fernando Alonso for much of the weekend so far, Massa endured a poor qualifying session. Having used up one set of soft tyres to get through Q1, he then ran wide at turn 9 in the final session and aborted his one and only run. Massa said the decision was made to preserve the tyres for the opening stint of the race.

"It was not a good qualifying for me: I did not manage to get a clean lap in Q3 after I made a significant mistake at Turn 9, when I ended up going off line: we therefore decided it was better to pit and save that set of tyres for the start. In Q1, with the hards, I did not get a great lap and so as not to take any risks, we decided to also use the softs, so I only had one new set available for the final part of qualifying.

Now we will see what we can do in the race tomorrow: usually our pace is better than in qualifying, but it will not be easy to do well, given that I'm starting from tenth. We will see what the tyre degradation will be like, maybe it will be a bit higher than what we saw in China. A shame, as I could have been on the third row, along with my team-mate."

Massa also said that his preparation for qualifying was disrupted by an engine change after the final practice session, but played down any fears it could affect his competitiveness in the race.

"This morning, in FP3, the engineers saw an engine parameter that they were not sure about and so it was decided to change it at the end of the session. So I went back to the engine I had already used in Malaysia and China, which according to the schedule is still meant to do three races."

Source: ESPNF1

FIA investigating Massa grid error

Felipe Massa overshot his grid slot at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix

The FIA is investigating how Felipe Massa escaped a penalty after overshooting his grid slot at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix.

Amateur footage posted on Youtube clearly showed Massa well ahead of his grid box as the cars assembled for the start of the race although stewards and rival teams apparently failed to notice or report Massa's error to race director Charlie Whiting.

It did not escape the attention of BBC commentator Martin Brundle, however, who commented that the Brazilian's Ferrari was at least "two metres" ahead of its starting box.

A report published in the Telegraph newspaper said the transponder on the floor of Massa's Ferrari did not send a signal to the tarmac sensor because he was too far out of position. Because the matter was not looked at in any further detail before the results became official, no further action will be taken.

"As no further information or complaints were received before the publication of the official result on Sunday night, the classification of the Belgian Grand Prix will now remain unchanged," said an FIA spokeswoman.

"The FIA are investigating the causes of the apparent failures in communication with race control in order to ensure a repetition is not possible."

Source: ESPNF1