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Felipe Massa finished the British GP in a credible 4th position after having started 11th on the grid. His drive and chase up the field was so classy that the driver himself told the media that it felt as though he had won the race! A great feeling in the Ferrari camp after a pathetic start to their ’09 campaign.

However, I have this strong feeling that Ferrari settled for 4th rather than chasing Barrichello’s Brawn car for the last step of the podium. As always my mind is dwelling on whether Ferrari could’ve atleast challenged the Brawns for 3rd. The fact is that they didn’t!

After KERS-ing everyone at the start and gaining places with a longer first stint, Massa found himself in a surprising 5th place. And he wasn’t the only one surprised. However, what was even more surprising about his place was that not only could he match the pace of Nico Rosberg who was 4th in his Williams, but the duo was also closing in on the 3rd placed Brawn GP car.

Closer to their final pitstops, the three cars were bunched up within a second of each other, with Felipe still in 5th and by the look of it in a faster car! His Ferrari had gone longer in the first stint and second stints and the team knew that if theyed stay longer on track, they could easily jump the 4th place Williams – and they did.

But the bigger question is, could they have stayed longer on track and challenged the Brawns for 3rd? After Nico pitted, Felipe was just about a second behind the Brawns and closing.

Silverstone is a fast flowing circuit and a difficult one to overtake on. Testimony to the fact was that we barely saw any overtaking last weekend. Either the cars lost too much downforce while running close or the car ahead used KERS to defend their position.

In my opinion, Ferrari could’ve stayed a lap or two longer on track – waited for Rubens to pit. They had the pace and were on the right tyre – whereas Rubens was on the option tyre. They could just have challenged the Brawn car for 3rd – but of course we do know what they settled for. 

To think of it – Felipe on KERS and the option tyre Vs. Rubens without KERS on the right tyre – would’ve been a worthy fight till the end. But I guess this season with not much to write about, the Italian team preferred to just finish 4th and take home the points – rather than fight for a chunk of the silverware!