• Austrian GP - FP2

Massa not fooled by Red Bull's practice pace

ESPN Staff
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Felipe Massa expects a challenge from Red Bull for the coveted spot behind Mercedes in Austria despite seeing the team off the pace on Friday.

Red Bull appeared to struggle in Friday's opening practice session, though they did show a marked improvement in FP2, on a circuit which should highlight its straight-line disadvantage to the Mercedes-powered teams. Massa feels Williams are in a great position to challenge for big points but, despite the early indication on Friday, expects Red Bull to be in the mix again as it was in Canada.

"Yeah, you always expect more from Red Bull," he said when asked whether the team posed a threat this weekend. "But definitely it would be great to be there fighting with these cars behind Mercedes. Mercedes you never know but something needs to happen to them for them to be behind us, but we need to be ready for everything. We need to try to always be consistent and have a good balance all the time."

Massa finished fourth and fifth in Friday's practice sessions and thinks Williams is in a good position going into the weekend.

"I think it was good, I think it was a good Friday. I think the car balance was good and the car behaviour was positive on this track as well. We were competitive in the morning, we were competitive in the afternoon so it shows we can be there in the fight. It's definitely not an easy track, it's a track where so many things happen in the race so it can be a race like Canada here. So we need to be ready and we need to try to be consistent with everything now because it will definitely be a difficult weekend."

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