But Mark Hughes expects the Brazilian to challenge again in Bahrain
Tuesday 16 April 2013 13:13, UK
The apparent reversal in China of Felipe Massa's recent performance parity with Fernando Alonso at Ferrari was created by a very specific problem of the Shanghai weekend - and how each of them understood and dealt with that problem.
Massa by contract suffered the same front graining problems as most, losing great chunks of lap time on each of his stints. In addition, he had to wait until the lap after Alonso for his first stop with his front tyres now in terrible condition, losing him as many as four places in a pack that hadn't had time to spread, so early were the first stops. In other words, the very fact that Alonso had got his car to be easy enough on the fronts that he could make his first stop later than most - and thereby oblige Massa, as the team car behind, to stay out even later on tyres that were already finished - just exaggerated Massa's disadvantage. That crucial realisation of Alonso's on Friday afternoon defined the difference between his victory and Massa's low-key sixth place. It was not about their respective underlying raw pace. In this, Massa was as quick as ever. As we head to Bahrain, a track that will not be front-limited and a place at which Massa has been mighty in the past, expect his recent good form to resume. MH
