Italian GP Preview: Force India

Following its inaugural points and podium at the Belgian Grand Prix two weeks ago, the Force India Formula One Team goes to the next round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, the Italian Grand Prix, in a buoyant mood.

Hamilton takes pole at Monza GP

Lewis Hamilton of McLaren has won the pole for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, and Giancarlo Fisichella will make his Ferrari debut from 14th on the grid.

Felipe Massa on his near-fatal crash

Exclusive In his first interview since the accident that left him in a coma, the Ferrari driver insists he will return more determined than ever to win a world titleFelipe Massa traces the skin around the stitched but still dented wound over his left eye as he smiles gently at a question about the nature of fate. He might feel like one of the luckiest men alive, at home in his glittering apartment in São Paulo on a rainy September afternoon. Yet high in the sky, close to the ominous clouds that shroud this vast and sprawling city, Massa could brood equally over the extreme misfortune that saw a flying spring smash into his head at 170mph six weeks ago during a practice lap at the Hungarian grand prix."You need to think about luck in different ways," Massa suggests before pausing. "I was actually very unlucky with the spring in my face," he says. "But I was very lucky as well. Every doctor said the same. If the spring had gone one millimetre to the right I would have lost my sight. One millimetre to the left and who knows? I could have been brain damaged. So I was very lucky. And this is more important because it is my life."His gaze, nearly blinded in Hungary, sweeps from the imposing skyline to the trophies and helmets placed alongside his wife's huge books on fashion and the modern art lining the pristine white walls. Knowing that this apartment will soon be filled with the cries and gurgles of their first child, Massa flashes one of his most engaging grins. He might be talking of an old rival against whom he no longer holds any grudge rather than the hurtling metal that snapped off Rubens Barrichello's car and almost killed him on 25 July. Weighing the same as a small bag of sugar, but careering into his helmet with deadening force, the spring knocked Massa cold at the wheel of his speeding Ferrari. It led to an induced coma with Hungarian surgeons warning that his condition was "critical" and "life-threatening".In contrast to those bleak diagnoses his cheerful mood is obvious as his wife, Rafaela, drifts past. It is an almost giddy experience to hear Massa talking so vividly, to see him looking so strong just days before he re-enters hospital in São Paulo. He now faces another operation to implant a titanium infused plate in his head so that, next season, he will be ready to race again for Ferrari.Yet it is also hard to shake the feeling that Massa remains dangerously consumed by racing. The great drivers, addicted to speed and seemingly inured to fear and risk, are not ordinary men but surely an accident this serious has affected him psychologically? Has he detected even a small change in himself?"No," he says defiantly, before laughing. "Not at all. I remember in hospital when I woke up in the beginning. I had an oxygen mask to help me breathe. All the time I was lifting the mask and putting it here …"Massa points to his head, making a gesture that suggests he turned his oxygen mask into a clown's hat. He shakes his head, as if he cannot believe how blackly comic the scene must have appeared in that hushed hospital room in Budapest. "And then my wife would come and put the mask back over my face. But, straightaway, I would lift it on to my head. I had some friends with us and they were laughing because she kept trying to put it back over my face. And the third time I did it I looked at her and said, 'What a pain in the ass!' Rafaela looked at our friends and said, 'No, he's the same! He's the same!'"He might be blase about his own instinctive reaction to being taken to hospital but Massa reveals how he and Rafaela had been troubled by the death of the British driver Henry Surtees at Brands Hatch, six days before his own accident. It was, again, grimly freakish as a tyre flew off a rival Formula Two car and struck the head of the 18-year-old Surtees.Massa shudders for the first time. "I was very touched by his death. And I told my wife straightaway about the accident of Henry. I said to her, 'Listen, this is what you need to be worried about. This is something you have no control over. It is not like a normal accident.' And then a week after that … [he claps his hands and laughs] … it happened to me. She remembered straightaway what I had said."When I first told her about Henry she was a bit scared. She said, 'It's unbelievable – how did this wheel come away like this?' I said, 'Listen, this is like if you have an accident on the road – if somebody hits you when you least expect it. Like they jump the red light and then hit you.' There's nothing you can do."Massa sent the Surtees family a heartfelt message on the Monday after Henry's death. He smiles ruefully at the irony. "They sent a thank you after my message – but then they sent me a very nice message after my accident."Surtees was tragically unlucky; Massa was more fortunate but he believes the coincidence of two outlandish accidents is a warning. "We need to look for improvements. I'm not saying we need to cover [the cockpit] completely. But maybe there are some other things we can do to the car to stop a wheel hitting your head. When I come back this is something I want to discuss with Charlie Whiting [Formula One's race director], the FIA and the drivers – because we all need to work together."Massa is even more thoughtful when describing the terrible ordeal endured by his family. "It was much more difficult for them than me. When my wife saw the accident on television the first thing she did was put the volume down, completely, because she didn't want to hear anything. She was already calling my secretary to organise the flight – because she knew it was bad. Rafaela knows if I stay in the car after an accident it is strange. I always try to show some sign. She was very scared but, organising the flight, her adrenaline was so high. When she got to the airport, and heard I was in surgery, she was crying like crazy then. She couldn't stop."Rafaela was joined by Massa's parents and, alongside his Brazilian doctor, Dino Altman, they flew to Budapest. "My father, he is a man, and at least he did some racing. He has an understanding that allows him to think differently. But my mother was so bad. My mother never watches the start of my races – because she fears for me."Despite his astonishingly rapid recovery his family are besieged by anxiety as he prepares to return next year to the grid. Massa, in contrast, burns with conviction. "Of course," he smiles. "It is my life."For me, the worst thing that happened was not being able to race. If you can't drive that's terrible. But my wife has already asked me, at least 10 times, 'Are you sure you don't feel any doubts or worries?' Always, I say, 'No – because this is what I like to do.' If I don't drive then I am not the same person. Ever since I was a small boy this is my life. This is what I like to do. So I really hope, and expect, nothing will change inside of me when I go back into the car and start pushing myself to the maximum again."Has there not been a single day, even an hour, in which he has hesitated? "No. For my family it was very difficult because they followed everything and went through a lot. But for me it was less than that. As soon as it happened I was unconscious and three days later I woke up. In hospital I saw nothing of the accident. It was just Hungarian television channels. I only heard what they said happened to me. And for me this was strange – can a spring from another car really do this to a bone in my head?"I first saw it when I got home on television – just like you. But I had other accidents that disturbed me a lot more. When I lost the brakes in Monaco in 2002 it was a huge crash. And I crashed twice in Barcelona because I had a problem with my suspension – and that was an accident that made me think. But this accident in Hungary is like something I never even saw. So my wife was only asking gentle questions, like, 'You don't think maybe â€¦ ?' And I say, 'No, I am racing again.' My mother also knows me a lot. Sometimes she is looking at me and thinking but she knows not to ask."The extent to which Massa has missed competing is illustrated by his reaction to the first race after the Hungarian grand prix – when he yearned to drive at Valencia. "It was very difficult. I watched it here on TV with my computer on my lap so that I could check the lap times. There is a five-hour time difference so I wake at five in the morning to watch the practice on Friday."Even Massa looks briefly stunned by his own fervour so soon after the coma. "Unbelievable," he murmurs.If it was down to him, rather than his doctors, Massa would make his return in this season's penultimate race – at his home grand prix in Brazil, at Interlagos, not far from where he lives. There are three races before then, with the next grand prix on Sunday at Monza. Massa dutifully welcomes the arrival of Giancarlo Fisichella as his latest temporary replacement and suggests the Italian can help Ferrari in pursuit of third place in the constructors' championship."But it will be much worse when I have to watch the race in Brazil. That was the race I wanted to come back in but it's difficult to say if it would've been possible."Will he be at Interlagos, despite his pain at missing a race he won last year – only to lose the drivers' championship by a single point when Lewis Hamilton secured fifth place on the very last corner of the season? "It will be difficult to watch it," he concedes, "but I will be there."Last week Massa returned from a battery of neurological tests in Miami – that provided absolute confirmation that he is almost ready to resume his career. "Actually, I am OK. The only problem is I need surgery to close a bone in my head that they had taken away because it was completely damaged. A normal guy can live like this without any problem. But for a driver, if you have an accident and you have this problem, the recovery is more difficult. That's why I need this surgery to close the bone. I will have it soon because that's the only reason they won't allow me to race now. Otherwise I feel the same as before. I'm going to Europe to use the simulator and drive some go-karts and then I will know very well if I'm 100%."Massa appears without doubt that a seemingly routine operation will clear his last remaining obstacle. His competitive instincts, meanwhile, remain razor-sharp. Asked to reflect on the battle for the drivers' title, with Jenson Button being chased by his team-mate, Barrichello, and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, Massa is scathing in assessing the British driver's slump – that has seen Button's lead appear increasingly shaky. Even though his rivals have failed to capitalise, and he remains 16 points ahead, Button seems fretful.Does he believe Barrichello can overtake Button? "Look at me – I came to Brazil six points behind [Hamilton], and I almost won the championship. That was one race. Rubens has five races to close 16 points. It's a big possibility. But it depends on Jenson. If Jenson carries on in this bad way it will help Rubens a lot. In my opinion, Jenson has gone down because of the pressure. It's the only reason."At the start of the season everything was nice, everything was easy. He was in a new team winning six out of the first seven races. That's different to fighting hard for the championship. Now he has a different kind of pressure. In the earlier races he was almost half a second quicker than some teams. You win the race easy and there is not so much pressure. But now we have races where things are more difficult. So for me the pressure has had a big impact on his mind – and he needs to deal with it better. If he does not cope with the pressure he will not win the championship."Does he feel that Button has buckled so badly he will be unable to regain his lost momentum? Massa shrugs. "It's difficult to talk about another driver. I know Jenson but I don't know him so well. But I'm hoping for Rubens, of course. He's Brazilian – and he is my friend."This has been a strange season for Formula One; but for Massa it has been a year like no other. Beyond his crash, the 28-year‑old is preparing to become a father. "I am very excited. The baby is due just after the middle of November – and we know it is a boy. We will call him Felipe. I don't think I will ever forget 2009 because of this crash and, more importantly, becoming a father. Positive things come out of even the most difficult times." When I last met Massa, in Bahrain, just before the season began, he spoke of his belief that "our lives are already written" – and how that philosophical outlook had allowed him to deal with the anguish of losing the title to Hamilton so cruelly. That same positively fatalistic approach has strengthened him these last six weeks."That's the way I always think," he stresses, looking across the city where he first learned to race. "Everything in life has a meaning. If something bad happens it's because you need to learn, to grow. My life was once very difficult – when you think of the position I used to be in and what I had to do to arrive where I am now in my professional career. It was very difficult to reach this point. I had many races in the various categories where I knew if I did not win then I would not get to race in the next race because I did not have the money. So a lot happened that helped me become stronger. I think there is a reason for this accident. At the moment I don't quite know what it is but …"Massa's voice fades away in the certainty that clarity will finally emerge. Does he believe he will eventually become world champion to cap his remarkable recovery? "Always," he smiles. "Even more now. I have to believe it. I have always believed my whole life I will become a champion in whatever field I am racing. Formula One is the same. I will try very hard."On the drive back downtown, countless murals feature the image of Ayrton Senna, São Paulo's great lost son. Beyond the motorway and the tunnel named after him, these giant murals loom as a more haunting reminder that he was the last Formula One driver to lose his life on the track – at Imola in 1994. Fifteen years later another racer from this city almost became the next to die.This weekend, as racing resumes in Italy, Massa will appreciate that his recent fate has been shaped by luck that is more good than bad. If he was incredibly unlucky to have been struck by that potentially lethal spring, he is fortunate to wish he could be driving at Monza. And he now knows that, next year, he will be racing again, as fast and bent on victory as always. His wife, who will then also be a mother, might watch in silent dread but Massa insists he shall push himself to the limit again.As the images of Senna flattened and blurred against the window of a speeding car, Massa's voice echoed again. Asked one last time why he will race on, he had laughed softly. "This is my life," Massa reiterated when we said goodbye. "This is me."Formula OneFerrariFelipe MassaJenson ButtonBrawnMotor sportDonald McRaeguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Hamilton storms to pole for Italy GP

• McLaren's Hamilton on front row with Adrian Sutil• Button and Brawn team return to formPolitics ought to be put on hold for at least 90 minutes this afternoon as the Italian Grand Prix returns the emphasis to the 2009 championship rather than who might have affected the outcome of last year's race in Singapore. Crashing deliberately is unlikely to be a strategic part of 53 laps spent racing on the fastest track in Formula One, although even the best intentions could fall foul of the first chicane as 20 closely bunched cars attempt to negotiate the notorious bottleneck at 50mph.Lewis Hamilton is in the best position to avoid a repeat of his elimination on the first lap of the previous race in Belgium. Apart from starting from pole for only the second time this season, Hamilton will have additional help from his McLaren's Kers energy retention system on the 600-metre charge to the chicane. Kimi Raikkonen will be making similar use of the 6.6-second power boost as the Ferrari starts from third and tries to overhaul the Force India of Adrian Sutil, who is on second. Hamilton and Sutil, good mates and former adversaries in Formula Three, are unlikely to have their friendship tested if, as expected, Hamilton leaves the field standing."I'm really happy to see Adrian here," Hamilton said. "It's a long time since we've sat together in a press conference – at least four years. Qualifying was very close and it's such a great feeling to be able to put together a good lap. When you have a single shot right at the end of qualifying and it comes off, it's so exhilarating. I really didn't anticipate being on pole."Sutil had the same feeling even though Giancarlo Fisichella signalled the dawn of a dramatic improvement for Force India by taking pole two weeks ago at Spa. Sutil's previous best qualifying had been seventh for his home grand prix, otherwise the German had been more familiar with the back of the grid.Although using a Mercedes engine similar to Hamilton's McLaren, the Force India does not have Kers, a serious disadvantage at the start at Monza."The car is amazing, really quick, unbelievable," Sutil said. "It's such a different feeling in a car that gives you a chance. The good feeling of being a racing driver is back and being here with Lewis adds to that. After two years consistently at the back, you forget the feeling of fighting for pole and racing to win. You get the passion back and drive much easier with a smile on your face when at the front. But I must admit it's not the best feeling to have Kers cars around me at the start. We saw what happened in Belgium when my team‑mate lost the race."Sutil was referring to Fisichella being overhauled by Raikkonen's use of Kers at Spa, the only circuit similar to Monza in terms of requiring the cars to run minimum downforce, a set-up that suits the Force India and, to a lesser degree, the Brawn.Fifth and sixth fastest times for Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button was an indication of the extra fuel carried by the Brawns and disguised a timely return to form for the British team as the championship enters the final five races."I'm really happy with sixth position," Button said. "Rubens and I have been so close on lap times all weekend and he's ended up just fifteen-hundredths ahead of me, which is the difference between getting your head down on the straights [to reduce aerodynamic drag at 205 mph]. I obviously didn't do it enough!"We got the best out of the car today and it felt good on the heavy fuel load, which is important because it's not just about qualifying, you have to consider your race. It's been a positive day and I'm confident that we can have a good race."It has been a while since Button exuded such confidence at the end of qualifying, the leader of the championship poised to make the most of a one-stop strategy while the front three drivers stop twice. A pit stop at Monza can cost up to 28 seconds from leaving the track to rejoining."Rubens and Jenson drove extremely well with our chosen one-stop strategy to secure fifth and sixth positions," Ross Brawn said. "The closeness of their lap times shows that they achieved everything possible from the car. We have the majority of the Kers cars just ahead of us so, provided our drivers get a good start, there is everything to play for in the race."Button will also have been heartened by Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber struggling to match the pace of their championship rivals. The Red Bull pair have been restricted in mileage by Renault engine failures, which have eaten into the allocation of eight engines per driver for the season. The use of a ninth engine will bring a 10-place grid penalty."We'll see how the strategy pans out," Webber said. "We've got to try and grab everything we can now. I'm pretty happy with the job I did today but we're just lacking a bit of pace. We'll do what we can and salvage something from 10th – it's certainly possible."Depending which forecast you read, today's race could be similar to last year's and run in the rain. Vettel was unbeatable after starting from pole. Given Hamilton's record in wet conditions, the world champion is in the perfect position to win before the sport returns to less attractive business away from the race track.Lewis HamiltonFormula OneMotor sportMaurice Hamiltonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Hamilton storms to pole for Italy GP

• Adrian Sutil second and Kimi Raikkonen third• Jenson Button to start in sixth placeLewis Hamilton stormed to the 15th pole position of his career ahead of tomorrow's Italian grand prix. The reigning world champion saved it until the final moment as he was the last to cross the line in a hotly contested final ten-minute showdown, deposing Force India's Adrian Sutil from top spot.There was a possibility Hamilton could be penalised, though, as he appeared to impede Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi late on in the initial 20-minute Q1. However, given Buemi was never going to make it into the next session, it was hard to imagine the stewards penalising Hamilton.After claiming his second pole position of the year, and pipping close friend Sutil, Hamilton said: "It was a very close qualifying session, and I'm very happy to see Adrian up here. Since Formula Three it's been a long time since we've been in a press conference together, and on the front row. But it was such a great feeling to put a great lap together."People need to understand, you have one shot at it at the end, so to pull it off is amazing. I don't think we anticipated being just as quick as we are this weekend, so it's a bonus to everyone in the team."Behind another unusual front row, given Sutil's performance, Kimi Raikkonen again gave Ferrari something to cheer. He will start third, with the 2007 world champion joined on the second row by his fellow Finn, McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.The Brawns, clearly back in form after their recent struggles, are on the third row, with Rubens Barrichello starting fifth and Jenson Button sixth, the Brazilian out-qualifying the Briton for the third successive race.On his debut for Force India, Tonio Liuzzi gave the team another historic moment as he will start seventh, the first time they have managed to get both cars into the top 10. Renault's Fernando Alonso starts eighth, followed by the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, their title hopes fading further.BMW Sauber suffered a wretched Q2 as both Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld retired, with engine trouble. Kubica will start 13th and Heidfeld 15th, with the man to split them being Giancarlo Fisichella on his debut for Ferrari. The 36-year-old has clearly struggled to adapt to the car in the wake of his move from Force India nine days ago, notably crashing it this morning in final practice.Toyota's Jarno Trulli will start from 11th, with Romain Grosjean a semi-respectable 12th for Renault bearing in mind his car has KERS on board this weekend.Williams' fears regarding this circuit were certainly realised as both Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg failed to make it out of Q1. For Rosberg, who had qualified in the top 10 in 11 of the previous 12 races this season, the 24-year-old will start from his lowest position of the year in 18th, one place behind Nakajima.Toyota's Timo Glock was another unable to find the downforce and power required for Monza as he starts 16th, with the Toro Rossos bringing up the rear. Buemi will line up 19th, with Jaime Alguersuari 20th, the young Spaniard's five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change after final practice not counting for anything on this occasion.Positions after qualifying1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1min 24.066secs, 2 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:24.261, 3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:24.523, 4 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:24.845, 5 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:25.015, 6 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:25.030, 7 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 1:25.043, 8 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:25.072, 9 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:25.180, 10 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:25.314, 11 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:23.611, 12 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Renault 1:23.728, 13 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:23.866, 14 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Ferrari 1:23.901, 15 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:24.275, 16 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:24.036, 17 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:24.074, 18 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:24.121, 19 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:24.220, 20 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:24.951Formula OneMotor sportLewis Hamiltonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Barrichello wins Italian Grand Prix

Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello produced a beautifully-measured drive from fifth place on the grid to win Sunday's Italian Grand Prix ahead of his Brawn GP team-mate Jenson Button.