Motor Sport: Felipe Massa will incur a 10-place penalty after Ferrari were forced to change his engine ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The Brazilian, who qualified a stunning second only to team-mate Michael Schumacher on his Ferrari debut in Bahrain last weekend, will move back 10 spots from wherever he qualifies on Saturday.
It is the second Ferrari engine to encounter problems this season, after David Coulthard’s Red Bull, which uses customer engines from the Italian outfit, ground to a halt on the slowing-down lap in Bahrain.
Massa, who moved from the Sauber team in the close season to replace compatriot Rubens Barrichello, expressed his disappointment at the demotion.
But he said he will draw on Kimi Raikkonen’s performance in Bahrain when the McLaren driver started at the back of the grid but swept through the field to finish third.
"It was not what I was expecting but we know we have had a big change in the rules and this is not so easy for the teams," said Massa. "And who knows, maybe I won’t be the only one to change their engine. Maybe when we start running we will see problems in the other teams.
"We saw what happened with Kimi in the last race where he was quite strong and finished on the podium. I will try to do my best to do the same. We need to find the best combination for strategy. I hope my luck is turning."
Massa and Coulthard are not the only drivers who will start with new engines, as BMW-Sauber’s Jacques Villeneuve and Giancarlo Fisichella, of Renault, both failed to finish the Bahrain race and are thus allowed to have a fresh motor.
Given the heat and humidity of Malaysia, this must be considered an advantage on those drivers entering the second weekend of the two the engines must last.