Ferrari driver Felipe Massa has promised to push to the maximum after failing to set a time during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Massa crashed out of third practice in dramatic fashion and Ferrari mechanics were unable to repair his car in time for qualifying.
Consequently, Massa will start the race from last place.
"I am disappointed not to have been able to take part in qualifying and it was really frustrating," he said." This morning in the final practice session, I braked on a bump, the car bottomed and unexpectedly both front wheels locked up and from then on, there was nothing I could do. After hitting the guardrail I was waiting for the next impact with the barriers."
"Fortunately I’m okay, I’ve just got a bit of muscle strain, but the car was very damaged and the mechanics efforts to try and repair it in time came to nothing. It was a lot of work for the team, they all made a huge effort and for this I really want to thank them".
Massa's woes mark the third time in eight years that Ferrari find themselves with a car at the back of the grid in Monaco.
In 2006, Massa crashed out of qualifying while Michael Schumacher was thrown out after his infamous error at Rascasse. In 2010, a practice shunt damaged Fernando Alonso's chassis and forced him out of qualifying. In all three instances, the Ferrari drivers finished in the top 10.
"It’s a real shame starting from the back, especially on a track where it’s so difficult to overtake, but now we need to be optimistic and concentrate on tomorrow’s race."
"There will be a lot of work to do to assess if we need to change something in terms of set-up and strategy, to try and come up with something different which might give us an advantage. We know we are starting from a very difficult position, but the race is long and anything can happen. We will try and make the most of any opportunity, pushing to the maximum as usual."
