- Brazilian GP - Race
Massa thought podium was lost
Felipe Massa thought he had blown his chance of a home podium in Brazil after incurring a five-second stop-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Massa was running third before his first pit stop but was penalised ahead of his next one for failing to slow down in time. In the end, Massa finished third by a comfortable margin but at the time he thought the error would have bigger implications.
"I think the race was amazing," Massa said. "Everything happened in my race today, so the most important thing is the pace was there and the car was quick. I was so happy with the car today and all weekend. Anyway, I'm so happy with the race but not happy with my mistake today. I just had a problem when I came for the pit stop, I pushed my limiter but it didn't go. I thought I could have lost the podium in that mistake with the penalty for five seconds.
"I was so disappointed it happened, then I was pushing even harder, but the problem is you cannot push so hard as you use too much of the tyres. I managed to take care of the tyres and managed to have a good pace straight away."
Massa's third pit stop was not without drama either, as the Williams driver initially pulled into McLaren's box as it waited for Jenson Button.
"They changed our garage this race, and we are a lot more in the middle. And McLaren, with similar colour, they were there, I thought it was our garage. So I lost a lot of time with that but I was pushing again, managing the tyres and opening the gap again compared to Jenson [Button]. It was really a fantastic race. The people are still here, screaming, the whole energy is difficult to explain. Amazing."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
