F1: Williams got race strategy wrong - Massa

Felipe Massa says Williams simply got its race strategy wrong for Formula 1's Bahrain Grand Prix, after dropping from second on the first lap to finish eighth.

Both Williams made strong getaways with Massa slotting in behind leader Nico Rosberg after teammate Valtteri Bottas hit Lewis Hamilton, but continued with damage in third.

Massa showed reasonable pace on the super-soft tires but that speed fell away when he swapped to the mediums as the team attempted to make a two-stop strategy work.

"I started really well but it didn't finish the way we started," Massa said. "I was so happy after Turn 1, after going from seventh to second, and so I'm disappointed I finished eighth.

"Definitely we did not do the right strategy compared to the other teams. We tried a two-stop strategy but the pace was so slow. I don't believe we could have been on the podium, but it was possible to fight [Daniel] Ricciardo for fourth.

"We just chose the wrong strategy. The pace of the car on the mediums was so slow – we couldn't do anything."

Massa added it wasn't a case of the team not having enough sets of the right compounds but rather that it had always planned to run two stints on the mediums.

Williams ran a new nose and front wing on Massa's car in Bahrain after rushing to fly it out in time for final practice on Saturday. Massa felt it was tricky to learn much from it in race conditions given his struggles and added it will take time to optimize it.

"It was a race we were supposed to learn more on front wing but we couldn't," he said. "It was difficult to feel anything different on the nose in the race. We need a little bit of time on that.

"I hope all the numbers can be important for engineers and help choose right package for the next race. I hope we can be strong in the next race – and also do a better strategy."

Originally on Autosport.com