By AFP
October 7th 2008 @ 1:05am
Staying positive is crucial, says Massa
Felipe Massa says staying positive will be crucial at the Japan Grand Prix this week as he attempts to close the gap on Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
Ferrari had a disastrous Singapore race last week, with Massa finishing outside the points in 13th after starting from pole position, leaving him seven points behind his McLaren rival with three races to go.
“After the Singapore Grand Prix, the motto for the rest of the season has to be look ahead and don’t give up,” said the Brazilian.
“As our team principal Stefano Domenicali said after the race, we really need to try and finish first and second in all the remaining rounds. It’s a tough call, but everyone in the Scuderia will be trying their best.”
Massa was leading Hamilton after 15 laps in Singapore when he came into the pits and was given the green light to leave with the fuel hose still attached to his car.
The embarrassing blunder cost him the race but he remains upbeat and is trying to stay positive.
“As for the championship, like I said, it depends how you look at it: a seven point gap can be a lot or it can be a little,” he said on Ferrari’s official website
“If you look at what happened to me in Singapore where my gap went from one point to seven so suddenly, then you have to consider it could easily go the other way as well.
“The most important element to consider is that we have a very good car. Without that, my chances would be much smaller.
“We have two good cars and we can try and get both of us to finish ahead of our rivals. It can be done and we need to think positive and we need to keep fighting to the last race.”
Hamilton won at Fuji last year in a rain-lashed race with Massa finishing sixth.
The Ferrari driver said he believes he will be competitive here this year.
“Last year was a very wet weekend in Fuji and a very wet race. It was a very tough event and I eventually finished sixth, which was not a great result at the end of the day,” he said.
“But I do remember that on Friday’s sessions, in the dry we had a very strong pace from our package. Of course, that was last year, but I am confident we will be competitive again.”
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