Felipe Massa has expressed his frustration on missing out on finishing fourth in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix after a first lap puncture hampered his chances.
After making a fantastic start from ninth on the grid, Massa was up to seventh but while avoiding Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen, Massa collided with former Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso leaving the Brazilian with a puncture and subsequently dropped him to the rear of the field.
With Raikkonen and Verstappen retiring on the opening lap, and Valtteri Bottas failing to make the chequered flag due to an engine failure, Massa believed fourth was possible after Force India’s Sergio Perez, who he was ahead of on lap one, ultimately finished in that position.
“I’m so disappointed,” said Massa.
“I had a fantastic start, passing Pérez and Alonso on the straight, and then I got to Turn 1 and saw the incident ahead.
“I then got to Turn 2 and Alonso was suddenly on the outside of the corner, we touched and I picked up a puncture, which ruined my race.
“We had a big opportunity to finish fourth today, which I think I could have done because we had good pace.
“It’s really painful because we lost so many points today as a team.”
Despite falling over 50 seconds behind team-mate Lance Stroll, the Brazilian still finished ahead of him and was ultimately classified 13th with Stroll in 16th.
Williams now sits sixth in the constructors’ championship, having being overtaken by Toro Rosso after its double points finish in Barcelona.
