Ferrari Formula One driver Felipe Massa will start Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix from last on the grid after suffering a gearbox problem at the start of qualifying. The good news for Massa is that since he is at the back of the grid, Ferrari will take the opportunity to change his car's engine and gearbox.
Massa stopped on track during qualifying on Saturday before he set a time, causing a red flag. Inevitably he tumbled down to last place. The engine change means Ferrari has now exceeded the maximum eight engines per year on Massa's car, which normally carries a 10-place grid penalty for the race--in this case, Singapore--where a team introduces a new engine beyond the eight allocated at the beginning of the year. However, since Massa can't drop any lower than last place anyway, the installation of his ninth engine in 2010 will carry no penalty.
Massa knows, however, that he faces a big challenge on Sunday.
“We know how it is to overtake in the streets, which is very difficult,” said the Brazilian. “We are a little bit like in Monaco, you have short straights. But anyway many things happen during the race, to have the possibility to pass people, to have the possibility to have a good strategy, so we wait and see how it’s going to be tomorrow. Definitely starting completely last at this kind of track is really bad.
“It could have been a good qualifying for both cars. It’s a shame because it was on the first lap everything happened. So it’s really not a great qualifying, and also it’s the second time that we are not lucky on this track, for many different reasons.”
In Monaco, Massa’s teammate Fernando Alonso started from the pit lane, changed tires on the first lap and was able to recover to sixth.
Asked if such a strategy could work in Singapore, Massa said, “For sure here is a place that you use a little bit more the tires than in Monaco, so we need to think about it.”
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Originally Posted by Tifoso
4 down, 3 to go! Forza Sebastian!
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