Williams’ Felipe Massa says he hopes to finish on the podium in Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom.
Massa qualified fifth but will start one place higher due to Sebastian Vettel, who qualified second, picking up a five-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change. Vettel will start seventh.
The Brazilian admits he did not extract the maximum from the FW38 in qualifying but believes a podium finish is a realistic target in Sunday’s race.
“I am going to try for the podium and if we can do it, it would be an amazing result,” Massa said.
“Valtteri managed to do a great lap to be in front. I was behind and couldn’t really put the lap 100 percent together. But the car should be competitive for the race.
“We are a bit lucky to gain positions from one Ferrari and one Mercedes. They are going to be strong on Sunday for sure, but we need to try to do everything we can so that maybe can be a good race for us.”
After a somewhat disappointing start to 2016, Massa believes the characteristics of the Sochi Autodrom in conjunction with the track conditions allowed Williams to return to form this weekend.
“I think it is the track, the cooler temperatures is good but we were also more competitive on the long runs on Friday. The track is good for us, so we just need to repeat in the race.”
Massa’s last podium finish came at the 2015 Italian Grand Prix, after finishing third behind Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
