In an interview with the media this morning, Williams driver Felipe Massa believes Williams has shown it is capable of beating his old team Ferrari in the constructors’ championship this year.
Williams is currently third and nine points clear of Ferrari, but was outscored by the Italian team at the last race in Singapore. In his interview with the media this morning, Massa believes the street race was his team’s weakest venue and that it can stay ahead for the rest of the season. Massa stated the following:-
‘I hope we can finish in front Ferrari is a big team and it won’t be easy to fight with them. But I think we can do it. We have everything to show we can do it. The last track was a good race for them and we managed to score good points.
‘Definitely we can do it because it was the worst track for us and we managed to get some good points. I hope from now on we can be stronger than we were in Singapore.’
It is nice to see that Massa is confident that he believes that Williams can beat his former team for third in the Constructors Championship. But he is realistic and knows that it will not be easy and will be ensuring that he does everything he can to take the fight to them.
Even though Massa had a great performance at Singapore and scored some great points for the team, it is clear that Massa and Williams need to build upon what they achieve there and push as hard as they can in the remaining races to get the best possible results that they can.
Williams is bringing an update package to its car this weekend and Massa is confident it will help. Further on in his interview, Massa hopes that the upgrade being brought to Suzuka helps them become more competitive on the track. Massa added the following:-
‘I hope the car can be more competitive. It’s nice, in a [constructors’] race like that, that we get to the end of the season and we have upgrades in the car and new pieces. I don’t think you see that at many teams, which are looking at next year. We are also looking at next year but we still have pieces that are coming and that’s positive. We will keep fighting and I hope that these new pieces will help us to finish the season in a good way.
‘For sure we are fighting with top teams, but we are small and we have less people. The budget is also increasing and getting there. For sure you cannot change things from one day to another to be a top team. Things are getting better through the year but it should also improve and make the team stronger and bigger next year as well. We are getting there but it’s taking time.’
Williams have made their intention clear that they want to fight Ferrari for third in the Constructors Championship and it is imperative that the upgrade they are bringing for this weekend works effectively for them to keep the pressure on the Ferrari team. As Massa says that even though Williams will be working on the 2015 car and still bringing upgrades shows the team taking a positive step in the direction and showing that they still hungry for success in 2014 still.
Massa for me sums it up nicely. Even though Williams this season have been making positive steps in the right direction and have been rewarded with podium finishes as a result of their hard work. But as he right points out, things can change very quickly in Formula One. But at the end of the day, it will take them time to get the position they want to be as Massa says, but they are making small steps to get there and it will take time for them to achieve it.
In conclusion this weekend will be important for the Williams team. With the team bringing upgrades for Suzuka, it is clear that their intention is to make the most of the upgrade and extract the best possible result on the circuit to keep the pressure on Ferrari and maintaining their current position in the Constructors Championship. It will be a battle to watch and many pundits and fans would love it if Williams could stay where they are currently. But will Suzuka reward Massa and the Williams team this weekend? Only time will tell.
