Felipe Massa, Mark Webber care little for title fight
Massa said: "I feel very happy. It was a great performance. With how quick McLaren and Red Bull were it was impossible to do better than I did. "I think we focus on ourselves tomorrow and do the cleanest race I can," said Mark Webber.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: November 25, 2012 09:59 AM IST
Felipe Massa of Ferrari and his Red Bull counterpart Mark Webber both said Saturday they will be concentrating on their own bids for glory and not their team-mates' title fight in Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix.
Brazilian Massa qualified fifth after Lewis Hamilton of McLaren took pole ahead of stablemate Jenson Button while Webber snatched third to out-qualify defending champion and teammate Sebastian Vettel, out to claim a third straight title.
And Massa lost no time in making clear he will bid to win his home race for a third time even as the main focus is on who will lift the overall crown.
He said: "I feel very happy. It was a great performance. With how quick McLaren and Red Bull were it was impossible to do better than I did.
"Now we must concentrate on the race, I will try everything I can tomorrow. I don't know the weather, but everyone says it will be wet.
"We know Interlagos and that anything can happen. The only thing I need to do is concentrate on my own race in front of my own people.
"I hope I can do a good job tomorrow in front of my people."
Massa was hit by a five-place grid penalty after he out-qualified his Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso in last weekend's United States Grand Prix at Austin in Texas.
His team deliberately broke the seal on his car's gearbox and incurred the penalty to improve Alonso's grid slot.
This weekend, with Alonso down in eighth place on the grid as he takes the title race down to the line, he is keen to make the most of his chance to challenge for a podium finish.
Webber, whose Red Bull outfit clinched their third consecutive constructors championship in Texas, has much the same mind-set after qualifying third.
Alonso needs to outscore Vettel by 14 points to be champion, meaning he has to finish at least third.
But Webber is focusing on his own race.
"I think we focus on ourselves tomorrow and do the cleanest race I can," said the Australian.
"I will be focusing entirely on my own cockpit. We know Interlagos can be very hit and miss.
"A little shower can generate from everywhere and surprise you. We could run all three types of tyres - wet, slicks and inters.
"We need to keep our eyes open tomorrow. That is what can happen. Whatever it is, it will be a good final grand prix of the year and I am looking forward to a good result."