Ferrari: A special appointment for Massa in Brazil

Usually in the presentations of a Grand Prix we talk about the most important aspects of the upcoming weekend but this time, for the nineteenth and final stage of the 2011 season, we wanted to make an exception. In fact, the Brazilian Grand Prix will be a special event for Scuderia Ferrari driver Felipe Massa and not only because he will race on home soil.

When the Brazilian leaves home to travel the short distance that separates him from the Interlagos circuit, located on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, the weekend of his 153rd career Grand Prix will begin for him but, above all, his hundredth in Ferrari red. “It will be a very important weekend for me, also because it will mark the end of my tenth season in Formula 1, even if not in Grand Prix, given that in 2003 I was a test driver for the Scuderia” – says Felipe – “Fortunately I am still young and my future in racing will still be long but ten years is still a particular milestone in a driver's career. Furthermore, I have six seasons as a starter for the Scuderia with whom I will contest my XNUMXth Grand Prix, all at my home race. It will be really special and it would be nice to top it off with a good result in Sunday afternoon's race.”

Good results or, rather, the best possible result, are quite frequent in the history of the relationship between Ferrari and the Brazilian Grand Prix, given that the Scuderia has won this race ten times, both on the track where it is currently raced and on that of Jacarepaguà, in Rio de Janeiro, where it took place until 1989. Felipe signed two of these victories: “They were both incredible, even the one in 2008, when I came so close to winning the world title” – he recalls – “The first it was the realization of a dream because for a Brazilian winning at home is almost like winning the world title and this perhaps makes it the more beautiful of the two.”

Even though Felipe's teammate has never won at Interlagos, Fernando has often been on the podium, having finished second twice (2006 and 2008) and third twice (2007 and 2010).

After the triptych Korea-India-Abu Dhabi, the latest arrivals on the world championship calendar, in Brazil we return to the past and to a paddock that has changed very little in the last twenty years. Furthermore, the ingredients for a great weekend are all there: a fantastic track, an enthusiastic and noisy crowd and three local drivers, given that in addition to Felipe there are Rubens Barrichello and Bruno Senna to support. 4,3 kilometers long, the track is relatively short and there are 71 laps to complete. Yet even in a small space there are many interesting points, including ups and downs, steep downhill curves that push the drivers towards the bottom of the car and other very fast ones which subjects them to notable lateral accelerations, not to mention the fact that this is one of the few tracks where you turn counterclockwise. Hopping has often been a problem in the past, both for drivers and cars, but the continuous resurfacing of the road surface has practically solved the problem. Pirelli will bring the Soft and Medium compounds to Brazil, just like in Abu Dhabi: there will be more work to do on the tires compared to the race held near the Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. Furthermore, we will need to keep our rain tires ready because water was often the protagonist at Interlagos, making its appearance even with very little warning.

The two 150° Italias will be in the same configuration seen in Abu Dhabi and, as happened in the last Grands Prix, the three hours of free practice on Friday will also serve to deepen the development of the recently introduced components and to experiment with set-up solutions that may be useful in the 2012. Then we will try to do everything to end a difficult season in the best possible way.

This is how the “centenary” Felipe summarizes the approach to the race: “This year it didn't go very well but we faced it with our usual spirit, made up of determination and commitment. We will carry it with us next year too, when we hope to have a very different conclusion to the season from this one. The intention is to be competitive from the start, seeking victory in every race. It wasn't a great year for me either but I have a great desire, shared with the whole team, to do my best to improve next year."