14th Nov 2013 | Formula 1
United States GP Tips: Felipe Massa
Driving well enough to finish in the top-6, only poor strategy cost him in Abu Dhabi.
Felipe Massa gave us a good run for our money in Abu Dhabi, missing out on sixth spot by 4.7sec. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the Brazilian at fault, rather Ferrari’s dubious strategy was to blame.
With a one-stopper looking out of the question Massa pitted on lap 38 to put on a second pair of medium tyres; a peculiar call.
His tyres weren’t showing any significant signs of wear, his last four laps were amongst the quickest of his race, so why pit him?
Even if a pit stop was necessary, why didn’t Ferrari send him out on the faster soft compound?
It was the strategy employed with Fernando Alonso and ultimately meant the Spaniard leapfrogged his teammate.
Assuming it wasn’t deliberate, poor Ferrari strategy cost Massa fifth place.
The Brazilian is driving well enough to be consistently finishing in the top-6 and looks a good bet at 5/4 (Bet365) to fill that position in the US GP.
Odds correct at time of publishing: 11:36 14th Nov, 2013 but subject to change