Massa happy to bask in glory following Malaysian criticism

FERRARI’S Brazilian driver, Felipe Massa, announced last night he was going to look forward to basking in the glory of his victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday until the Spanish Grand Prix in May.

The Latin American claimed his third Formula One victory from pole position, helping to offset the disappointment of his fifth place finish in the Malaysian Grand Prix last weekend where he had received heavy criticism after qualifying on pole.

“It was a perfect afternoon,” said Massa who finished 2.5 seconds ahead of Briton Lewis Hamilton.

“Now we have a good break to give me plenty of time too think about this nice result.

“The first races, I did not get the results I wanted. Something was missing, but today we put everything together.

“I am really pleased for the whole team. We need to push harder because McLaren are very close.

“I made a good start and finished in the front. I am sure the media will talk a different way after last week.”

After maintaining his lead position from the start, Massa was unable to shake off a determined Hamilton in the early stages proving McLaren Mercedes-Benz had clearly closed the gap on the pace of the Ferraris.

Massa’s victory moves him to within five points of the lead in the drivers championship currently being held by his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen, double world drivers champion Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton all on 22 points.

It was another historic day for Hamilton as he became the first driver in Formula One history to finish on the podium in his first three races.

“It is sweet to get three successive podiums,” said the McLaren rookie.

“I am happy with that and this weekend we have definitely closed the gap to Ferrari.

“To have another second I could not have asked for more. There is only one more step and I will be pushing hard for that in Barcelona.”

The much talked about start was perfectly handled by Massa as he beat Hamilton to the first corner with the Briton admitting he did not get the start he hoped for.

“I did not get as good a start as Felipe. I just had to make sure I stayed as close behind him as possible. We were fairly matched,” said Hamilton.

Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen was third in the other Ferrari eight seconds further adrift and blamed his failure to overtake Spaniard Alonso in the early stages for not being more competitive.

Ferrari team-mate Raikkonen finished third, while Nick Heidfeld capped a fine performance on the Sakhir circuit to take fourth place.

Two-time world champion Alonso ran the German close but in the end finished half a second behind the BMW Sauber driver in fifth place.

Robert Kubica ensured a good display for BMW Sauber as he took sixth place, Toyota’s Jarno Trulli finished seventh while Giancarlo Fisichella, Heikki Kovalainen and Nico Rosberg rounded off the rest of the top 10.