SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium -- Williams' "painful" weekend leading up to the Belgian Grand Prix is proof the team is failing to out-develop its midfield rivals, according to Felipe Massa.
Massa and teammate Lance Stroll were eliminated from Q1 on Saturday afternoon on a circuit which should a team with a Mercedes power unit. Williams' weekend has been hampered by Massa crashing out in FP1, forcing a full-scale chassis change on Friday afternoon, but the team has never shown competitive pace.
Williams started the year on a par with Force India, which has solidified itself as best of the rest behind the lead trio, and Massa thinks a comparison to March shows how much the team has failed with recent upgrades.