• German GP - Qualifying

Massa 'unable to drive perfect lap' despite third

ESPN Staff
July 19, 2014 « Bottas never doubted Williams pace | Magnussen lauds McLaren upgrades after fourth »
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Felipe Massa says he was unable to put everything together over one lap as he was forced to settle for third on the grid behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas for the German Grand Prix.

After Lewis Hamilton's brake failure in Q1 Williams looked to be the only team likely to challenge Nico Rosberg for pole, though it looked closer to Mercedes on the soft tyre than the super-soft. Massa is frustrated he could not line up on the front row alongside Rosberg after finishing three tenths off his team-mate.

"I was struggling to put the lap together," Massa said. "There was lots of movement from the tyres so I was unable to drive a perfect lap. The car wasn't 100%perfect and Valtteri did a really good lap, but I am quite happy with the result. For sure the race will be completely different and the feel of the car will be completely different, so I will try to do a good job tomorrow."

The weather on Friday and Saturday has been sweltering, with track temperature reaching 55C during qualifying, and Massa is looking forward to the cooler conditions for the race.

"I think it will be a big challenge for everybody. We are running super soft and soft, so it won't be easy to keep the tyres in a good shape and the consistency won't be there every lap. Maybe we will see more stops than other races, but definitely having a cooler race will help a bit especially for our cars."

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