Felipe Massa: Drivers will focus on job when racing at Hungarian GP
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Hungarian Grand Prix on the BBC |
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Venue: Hungaroring Dates: 24 July to 26 July |
Coverage: Live on BBC TV, Red Button, Radio 5 live, 5 live sports extra, online, mobile, the BBC Sport app and Connected TV. Full details here |
Felipe Massa says drivers will race as hard as ever at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, despite the death of "great friend" Jules Bianchi.
The Frenchman, 25, died on Friday, external from severe head injuries suffered in last year's Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
Brazilian Massa suffered a fractured skull during qualifying in Hungary in 2009, external after a spring hit his helmet.
"I don't think anything changes. When you close your visor, you want to be the best," said the Williams driver.
"I had my accident and when I pass that place I don't remember it.
Felipe Massa (second right) attended Jules Bianchi's funeral on Tuesday
"I don't ever think 'I have a mother or father or son or wife'. You just think about your job."
Bianchi had been in a coma since crashing his Marussia into a recovery vehicle at last October's rain-hit race.
Massa, who says he expects to stay with Williams in 2016, is "not completely against" closed cockpits in Formula 1 "if it's best for everyone and doesn't change the aspect" of the sport.
The 34-year-old, who attended Bianchi's funeral in Nice on Tuesday, said he would "have Jules on my mind all the time" when he is not racing in Hungary.
He added: "It was so difficult to be there in church. It was so sad but I am sure he is in a good place now and looking here at all of us."
BBC Sport's chief F1 writer Andrew Benson: |
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"The death of Jules Bianchi last week will inevitably overshadow everything else at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix. |
"The first loss of a grand prix driver in more than 20 years has hit hard and the atmosphere at the Hungaroring will reflect that. |
"The venue is a hot, dusty amphitheatre in unremarkable countryside 12 miles or so outside Budapest. But the track in this undulating bowl is one of the calendar's more demanding challenges for Formula 1 drivers. The suffocating July heat only adds to the difficulty. |
"Historic Budapest a few miles down the road usually makes an atmospheric and beguiling base, but the circumstances are hardly conducive to savouring its pleasures to the full." |
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