Massa relieved to finish but rues wrong tyre call

Felipe Massa says it is a 'nice relief' to enjoy a drama-free race and score good points in the Hungarian Grand Prix, but rued what he felt was an incorrect call on tyre strategy.

Under pressure to secure a positive result after high-profile crashes in three of the last four races, Massa started sixth but would get himself as high as second in a race defined by wet starting conditions and two safety car periods that would shake up the order.

However, a move onto the medium tyre, instead of the faster but similarly durable option rubber, would leave him with little opportunity to get himself back into contention after his final pit-stop.

Indeed, though Massa was pleased to see the chequered flag with his run to fifth place, he felt the move onto the medium rubber cost him a better result.

"It's a nice relief to finish the race and score some points but it's definitely not enough. We did not have a very competitive car to fight with Red Bull and Ferrari and I think the car was not so competitive, especially on the medium tyres, so we were just too slow.

"For sure it was better to go to the option. I had a much better run on the options at the beginning of the race compared to everything I did on the medium and I even told the team that maybe the option was the better tyre to go.

"There were still many laps to the end, so maybe we were afraid the option wouldn't stay until the end and maybe it would have been difficult to put many laps together on the prime.

"Anyway, it was not an easy race but it was a race to take some risks and we didn't do a perfect job on the tyres. When it is a difficult race like, definitely we scored good points and I think that is positive."