Felipe Massa delighted to finish third in Austrian GP after Ferrari error

Ferrari opened the door for Williams at the Austrian GP and Felipe Massa walked right through it, with the Brazilian snatching the final podium place from Sebastian Vettel on Sunday.

Starting fourth on the grid behind Vettel, Massa held station during the early laps but was handed third place on lap 37 when Ferrari’s mechanics struggled to change the right rear tyre on the four-time champion’s car.

Yet with the race only half finished, there was still plenty of work for Massa to do – particularly during the closing laps when Vettel closed in.

However, Massa, polesitter at the Red Bull Ring 12 months ago, held the racing line – and his nerve – to take the chequered flag just 0.5s ahead and claim his first podium finish of the season.

“I’m so pleased with the result we had today,” he told Sky Sports F1 afterwards. “It’s also true that we had an opportunity with Ferrari’s problems they had with the pit-stop.

“We understand that maybe we’re still the third quickest team in the championship. But when we have an opportunity we need to get it. And today we got it.”  

Massa said his rearguard action “was difficult because I expected him to be close to me at the end of the race. We know that they use the tyres better in the race. He was quicker in the first stint, but in second stint, looking at how much I was in front, he was going to be close to me at the end – and he was.

“It was difficult to keep him behind, but at the important places where you need good traction I just managed to keep him behind and open up a little bit of a gap.

“It’s not a very easy track for overtaking, so it’s important not to give him the opportunity to try.”

For his part, Vettel said that his rival “did a good job – a couple of small mistakes but nothing major – got the exits right, so it was very difficult for me.

“We knew the Williams would be difficult to pass – it’s probably one of the most difficult cars to pass on track – also they had strong pace today, so it’s not lap we were one second a lap quicker.

“I was trying to create something but it didn’t happen…I ran out of magic!”

The result was a disappointing one for Ferrari, who had shown strong race pace during practice.

Kimi Raikkonen retired after a heavy collision with Fernando Alonso’s McLaren-Honda on lap one and with the Safety Car out for five laps after that, Vettel was six seconds down on eventual winner Nico Rosberg by lap 13.

The German reckons that the engine upgrades Mercedes introduced at the Canadian GP are making a difference. “I think the car was feeling good,” he told Sky Sports F1. “But probably the others were able to find a little bit.

“It’s very simple to explain: Mercedes, when it’s these conditions, since they have their new engine, they’re able to run their high power modes more often in the race. And surely in the opening laps, if you look at the two cars ahead…

"Williams has the same engine, so it’s not a surprise.”