BUDAPEST 30 July 2010 - Felipe Massa insisted on Friday that he was not prepared to play second fiddle to Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso as the storm over Formula One team orders continued to rage.
The Brazilian was at the wrong end of a controversial demand to pull over and let Alonso overtake and go on to claim victory in Germany last weekend.
When asked at the Hungaroring circuit ahead of Friday's first free practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix what would happen if he was faced with the same situation, he replied,
I will win. The time I say I am number two driver, I will not race any more. I have spoken to everybody inside the team and as I said I am not here merely to race, I am here to win. That is really my point. As long as I am in the condition to win, we need to go to the end, to fight for the victory. I am a professional, I work for the team and everybody has to understand my point.Massa added that the decisions he made in Germany were for the benefit of the team and recalled when he had supported Kimi Raikkonen in 2007, and that Raikkonen had returned the favour in 2008, when Massa was chasing the title.
I am working for the team and we know how important it is to work for the team. You remember what happened in 2007 and 2008, so I don't think I have to go through all the points. If the team really has the chance to win the championship, I want the best for the team.Alonso also insisted that Massa was not the team's number two driver and claimed that any choices made in Germany were in the team's best interests.
I think there is not a number one or number two driver. I think it is more about respect of each other, respect of racing for the Scuderia - which means a lot."The Spaniard said he was unfazed by all the criticism generated by Ferrari's instruction which earned them a 100,000 dollar fine and a disciplinary hearing date at the FIA's World Motor Sports Council.
Of course it doesn't affect me, not at all. If we lost one per cent of our concentration in everything they say we'd be lost. Not only because of Germany, but because there's always a small anecdote in every race. One time is the crash between the Red Bulls in Turkey, another time is the overtaking in the pitlane between Massa and me - there's always something to talk about next week so we can't pay too much attention.Alonso added that he was not worried about the WMSC's pending decision and was instead focused on his team's performance in Budapest and grabbing as many points as possible.
"Anything that happens in the future of the WMSC is not in our hands," added Alonso. "From a drivers' point of view we just need to concentrate and drive well and be okay."
"I think we are happy with the performance of the car in the last couple of races and in Germany finally there was the point we arrived with both cars at the chequered flag without problems and we scored points."
"But also in Silverstone and Valencia the car was good, so our aim here is to continue in this line.
"I think we will see. At the moment the drivers, now we need to concentrate on driving, we have a very interesting GP here in Hungary."
