• Brazilian Grand Prix

Massa 'very emotional' with home podium

Felipe Massa was running ahead of his team-mate Fernando Alonso late in the race © Sutton Images

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• Report:
• Vettel secures third title in epic season finale
  

• Race:
• Brazilian Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Felipe Massa

• Teams:
• Ferrari

Felipe Massa admitted it was "very emotional" for him to stand on the podium at his home race as he finished third in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso's championship challenge meant that Massa relinquished second place late in the race, but he came home third to take just his second podium of the season. Massa has turned his season around with an impressive run since the mid-season break having endured a dismal start to the season and he said thoughts of his year had got to him on the podium before congratulating Alonso after his team-mate missed out on the championship by three points.

"It was very emotional for me to jump up on the podium at my home race," Massa said. "I cried like a baby, thinking back to how difficult this season has been for me, disastrous at first and then very competitive in the last part. Fernando should be proud of what he has done this year: he was able to win when the car was not perfect and fought right to the end, even if his car was not a match for those of his rivals. His championship has been truly spectacular! We too must also be proud of what we have done."

Massa added that he felt he could even have won the race himself with a better strategy if he didn't have to allow Alonso up to second place.

"Today's race was very close fought and difficult and so many things happened. It was not easy to work out what was the right tyre as the conditions changed so quickly. At the start, when it began to rain, we had opted to stay out on track, but we did so for too long. Then, I found myself down in eleventh, but I began to go very quickly and overtake a lot of drivers.

"Who knows, maybe I could even have been in the hunt for the win today...The team kept me informed all the time about what the situation was on track and on what could be useful to do in the fight for the championship: I think I did the right thing, for my team and also for my fans."

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