• Belgian Grand Prix - Qualifying

Massa sets sights on Spa podium

ESPNF1 Staff
August 27, 2011 « Vettel 'rediscovered Spa' | »
Felipe Massa is hoping for dryer conditions on race day © Sutton Images
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Felipe Massa has set his sights on a podium finish after qualifying fourth for the Belgian Grand Prix.

Despite his high grid slot, Massa said that better weather conditions would have worked better for his qualifying set-up.

"At the start of the session, when the rain came down, if I had been offered a fourth place, I would have signed for it on the spot," said Massa. "My result isn't bad, even if the cars ahead of me have shown a much quicker pace. However, it's true that conditions in Q3 were the worst possible for us: we could not get the best grip level right from the start, because we struggled a lot to get the tyres up to temperature."

With dry conditions predicted for Sunday's race, Massa hopes to be fighting it out with the cars ahead of him, notably Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber.

"I think that tomorrow, if we have a dry track, we could be more competitive and I hope to be fighting with the drivers who are ahead of me today. It's difficult to make predictions, because we don't have much data on tyre degradation, but I think we will see two or three stops. Starting from the dirty side of the track again? True, but it's not as much of a disadvantage here as it was in Budapest and so I think I can have a normal start."

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