GreenBkk.com Ferrari F1 | Massa wary of tyre issues

Massa wary of tyre issues

October 25, 2011

Ferrari has tended to struggle on harder compound tyres this season © Getty Images

Felipe Massa says he is wary of potential tyre trouble for Ferrari with the hard compound supplied by Pirelli for the Indian Grand Prix.

Pirelli admitted that it had been conservative with its tyre choice for the race at the Buddh International Circuit due to the unknown nature of the track surface and lack of previous information. With Ferrari notoriously weak on the harder compound - which hasn't been used since Silverstone having appeared in the first five races of the season - Massa said he hoped it had found a way to be more competitive.

"In the preparation for the Grand Prix of India, I spent a day on the simulator to get a general impression of the track and I've also got the latest version of the 2011 Formula 1 computer game that features this circuit, which means I at least have a feel for it and know where the corners are," Massa said. "First impressions are that it is a nice track and it has some similarities to the last venue in Yeongam, in that it has a long straight and many different types of corner from very fast to very slow hairpins with several changes of gradient too.

"However, that's where comparisons to Korea end as it should be much hotter this weekend and also because we will run the Soft and Hard tyres from Pirelli, historically not the ideal choice for the 150º Italia. I hope that we have made some progress in this area and that we can get a good result."

Massa also said that the deaths of Dan Wheldon and Marco Simoncelli over the past ten days were a reminder of the risks involved in motorsport.

"Simoncelli was such a nice guy and one of the characters in the sport of motorcycle racing and a great talent. Coming so soon after the death of Dan Wheldon, who was a friend of mine, these have been really difficult times and it is just unbelievable that these sad events happened just one week apart. Of course, those of us who race, we always know the risk is there, every time you go out on track. When you are racing, you do not think so much about the risks and you always push hard, sometimes too hard. But all the same, it is still a terrible shock when you see something like that and it reminds you the risk is there."

Credit: ESPN F1 (en.espnf1.com)