Felipe Massa started the Mexican Grand Prix on the fourth row of the grid in a respectable seventh place. Both Williams’s drivers had qualified behind the two Red Bulls, a Ferrari and the Mercedes duo.
The Williams team had expected the Red Bull’s to be strong in Mexico and during the race fans saw the Brazilian fighting with Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo.
After the race, Massa said: “It was a very positive race for the team, to have a good fight with Red Bull”. The return to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez track saw Massa and others in the field struggled with tyre degradation. Massa had to then defend his track position from the battling Force India of Nico Hulkenberg, who was hoping to maximise points. The Brazilian said, “From my perspective it wasn’t the best race, I struggled with the rear tyres in the second stint and lost one position because of it.”
For some teams, the deployment of the safety car helped to enhance team strategy, yet this was not the case for the Massa. Following the race, the Brazilian remarked “after the safety car I didn’t have the best run, and, as a result, didn’t get the chance to pass the cars ahead”.
Massa finished the race in sixth place, taking home eight points for the Williams team, although this was seven points behind his team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who had secured a third place podium spot. Massa concluded, “I am a little disappointed, but as a team we can be really proud of the performance.”
