Oct 26, 2008

Sport - F1;Massa - I have nothing to lose

MILAN: Felipe Massa has said the pressure is off for next Sunday’s season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix because he knows exactly what he has to do to snatch the title from British rival Lewis Hamilton.

The Ferrari driver is seven points behind McLaren’s 23-year-old driver, who only needs to finish fifth at Interlagos to become the sport’s youngest champion, having won in China last weekend. However, Brazilian Massa believes his task is more straightforward as he bids to clinch his first world championship on his home track in Sao Paolo.

“I have a tougher job than Lewis in terms of points situation but my own objective for the weekend is much more straightforward than his,” Massa told Ferrari’s website. “I only have to focus on winning the race, hopefully with my team mate (Kimi Raikkonen) second behind me.”

“The only thing I am thinking about is winning. After that, the matter is not in my hands and we will have to wait and see exactly what and how much we have won,” he said. Massa has been on pole in Brazil for the past two seasons, winning in 2006 and finishing second last year after allowing Raikkonen to go past and win to become champion by a point. Hamilton threw away his chance of the title in that race. “It is impossible to predict what will happen at the Brazilian Grand Prix but I think our car has always been very good at this circuit,” Massa said.

“For sure, Lewis will try and put pressure on me, but I have zero pressure, because I have nothing to lose. I have my people behind me and all the pressure will be on him, especially when you think about what happened at this race last year,” the Ferrari driver said.

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