la force supreme des mclaren 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2007 Felipe Massa will have his engine changed before the start of the Australian Grand Prix following his technical woes in qualifying. The Brazilian suffered a gearbox problem in Q2, after an electronic glitch wrecked seventh gear, and was supposed to line up 16th on the grid. Starting so far back, the team have little to lose by changing Massa's power unit and work began on the swap on Sunday morning after the cars were released from parc ferme. Massa will suffer a 10-place penalty for the change, which will put him at the back of the grid, but Ferrari may opt for him to start from the pitlane. This would minimise the risk of him getting caught up in any accident at the notorious first corner. Ferrari are understood to have got to the bottom of the electronic problem that Massa suffered from on Saturday and have made changes that should ensure no repeat for him or teammate Kimi Raikkonen in the race. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shane2 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2007 This is a good test of Massa's mettle. He has to pull himself together and fight, and I think today will give us a very good indication of what he is really made of. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Autumnpuma 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2007 On the SpeedTV feed, Steve Matchett made a comment that he was talking to the Ferrari guys and they told him their gearbox is very sensitive to vibrations, such as running over kurbing too aggressively. I hope this gets sorted for the race; I want a good race, not DNFs.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jem of the Shire 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2007 Massa is still just Felipe Massa, the guy who got thrashed by M Schumacher. He was on heavy fuel today but even with clean air and when fuel was light, his pace was nowhere near his team-mate Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DarkLord 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2007 Massa is still just Felipe Massa, the guy who got thrashed by M Schumacher. He was on heavy fuel today but even with clean air and when fuel was light, his pace was nowhere near his team-mate thats the difference between a good driver and a champion driver. Kimi's pace was blinding no one matched his pace. Massa i guess was more cautious as he didnt even tried to overtook 2 hondas for more than 7-8 laps Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shane2 0 Report post Posted March 18, 2007 Massa was on a 1 stop stratergy, and he spent a lot longer on old, and worn out tyres. Its not really possible to make a fair judgement until he has a realistic chance to actually win one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites