Lowe claims a win was possible for Massa before car failure
Williams chief technical officer Paddy Lowe claims Felipe Massa had an opportunity to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix if it were not for a suspension failure.
After the intense events of the race saw cars suffer problems all around them, including title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, Lowe felt Williams were in a position to see Felipe Massa potentially win the race before a rear damper problem led to his retirement.
Lowe said: “We got both cars in under the early safety car, and the red flag set us up well for what looked like a double podium, as we predicted there would be fallout from the Hamilton and Vettel incident. So we were feeling good at the red flag.
“Felipe had an internal suspension failure that emerged just after, which I’m very upset about. Without that issue, we really believe that Felipe could have won the race today and we could even have had a double podium.
“Felipe’s had a fantastic season so far and he’s been a great support to Lance, so it’s a shame that he can’t celebrate with us today. But, we’ll build on this and come back stronger next time.”
Massa also believed he could have been in strong contention at the end of the race if it were not his FW40 failing him. Despite the disappointment, the Brazilian did add his congratulations to his team-mate Lance Stroll on his on his maiden podium.
I’m so disappointed about the result today,” Massa added. “The race was going perfectly. I was overtaking cars and I had really good pace.
“On the restart, the car just started shaking on the straight and I didn’t have the speed, other cars were passing me so easily. I also couldn’t do the corners because it was shaking so badly.
“Today we had the opportunity to have both cars on the podium, and maybe even a victory. I do want to say massive congratulations to Lance. I’m so happy for him getting his first ever podium in Formula 1.”