Abu Dhabi: With four Brazilians in the starting grid for this week's Brazilian Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Felipe Massa said he felt the home crowd would give them something extra.
"I look forward to it [Brazilian GP] as it is a fantastic feeling seeing all the home crowd making so much noise in the grandstands from Friday [tomorrow] onwards, cheering me and the other Brazilian drivers," Massa said in his online diary.
"We have four Brazilian drivers on the grid this time, which will create even more interest with the crowd.
First race
"For Lucas [di Grassi] and Bruno [Senna] it will be their first time racing F1 at home, but the fans here understand the sport well and know these guys are not in the most competitive cars so they should get to enjoy the weekend, because even if Bruno has a big name, the fans understand there is a limit to what he can do with the equipment he has and the same goes for Lucas," the senior Brazilian said.
"As a Brazilian driver, the crowd definitely gives you something extra and I have firsthand experience of that. I have won my home race twice and I would love to do it again, but it is very difficult to make predictions until we actually start practice. What we can say is that, in the past, even in years when our car was not so competitive during the season, we have gone well in Sao Paolo and I hope that will be the case this weekend," Massa hoped.
"In terms of both championships, this is a very important race, but everyone at Ferrari will go about preparing for it just like any other Grand Prix, as you cannot change your approach."
"The important element will be reliability, so that we can get all our Friday work completed before tackling the crucial qualifying, which will be very close, given how short the lap is here. As for the race, the first aim will be to make sure we finish and then we can see where we are at the flag," said Massa, who is currently sixth in the standings.
