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Felipe Massa was delighted to find himself crossing the line in ninth place after a difficult qualifying session on Saturday. Massa dropped out of Q1 on Saturday, along with teammate Lance Stroll. It was the first time since Silverstone in 2014 that both Grove-based cars exited the first stage of qualifying.
Avoiding the drama at Turn 1 at the start of the race, Massa made up some positions and was able to pull away from Stroll. After qualifying, Williams reported that its car would be stronger in the race, which seemed to come to light.
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"For sure you cannot celebrate a ninth position but starting 17th it was a fantastic race for me," said Massa. "I had a really good start, getting through the issues that were happening in corner one, and overtaking cars. It was a fantastic first lap as the pace was great, compared to qualifying, which is something we need to work to understand so that we don’t repeat starting out of position like today."
After setting 48 laps on the soft tyre, Massa closed in on the back of Esteban Ocon. The two were involved in a scrap for eighth place, but ultimately, the Brazilian couldn't get by. However, Massa is still happy with his drive.
"At the end of the race it was a bit disappointing not to be able to pass Ocon, but I was just losing a lot of grip in the high-speed corners behind him, and he had good speed on the straight so it was quite difficult. I’m so happy with my race and it’s good to have both cars in the points."
Fergal Walsh
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
C. Sainz jr
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They really recovered from what could've been a disasterous weekend for them.