Massa: Williams could catch up with Red Bull
"We are planning to reduce the gap in each race... to catch up with Red Bull, which is a bit far behind, but you never know," Massa told Reuters on Wednesday; "Everything can change very quickly in Formula 1 in two or three races. The situation is different. Maybe we'll have the opportunity to fight for second place," he stated.
By Patrick Johnston
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Felipe Massa believes he has navigated a turning point by achieving his first podium finish of the season at the Italian Grand Prix, and is optimistic that the Williams team can catch Red Bull in the Formula 1 Constructors' Championship.
Massa, who was signed by Williams at the start of the season after eight years at Ferrari, finished third in Monza, the home race of his former team, helping his new team overtake Ferrari in the championship standings.
Williams is in third place among the teams, with 177 points, 15 points ahead of Ferrari and 95 behind Red Bull, with six races remaining in the season. The next race will be in Singapore on Sunday night at the Marina Bay street circuit.
Mercedes is well ahead in the standings, but Massa is optimistic about increasing his current 55 points and, with the help of teammate Valtteri Bottas, continuing to score points for Williams, which only managed five last season.
"We are planning to reduce the gap with each race... to catch up with Red Bull, who are a little way off, but you never know," Massa told Reuters on Wednesday.
"Everything can change very quickly in Formula 1 in two or three races. The situation is different. Maybe we'll have the opportunity to fight for second place," he stated.
"I think the work we're doing this year is going very well. But there's still a lot to improve in the second half of the season and also next year," he added.
The street circuit in Singapore, one of the most technical and demanding on the calendar, will be one of the most difficult of the year for Massa and Williams.
The team will have some new features on the car for the weekend's race, but Massa acknowledged that Monza, a high-speed circuit, was better suited to Williams.
"Monza was a fantastic race for us. We managed to finish on the podium, which was great," Massa said about the race 10 days ago.
"We finished third and fourth. We managed to overtake Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship and moved up to third place, I think it was a very important race for us," he said.
"It was fantastic to be back on the podium. I hope we can continue to be back on the podium in most races. I think this one (Singapore) is always a difficult race, a different track. It's not the best track for us. I really hope we can fight for the podium again," he added.