Ferrari say they let Massa down

By Alan Baldwin

SILVERSTONE, England (Reuters) - Ferrari apologised to Formula One championship leader Felipe Massa on Saturday after letting the Brazilian down in British Grand Prix qualifying.

Massa, the first Brazilian to lead the standings since the late Ayrton Senna in 1993, qualified ninth for Sunday's race after mechanics struggled to change his car's right rear wheel in the final session.

The delay meant the winner of three races this season, who had also been fastest in Friday practice, did not have enough time to get around the circuit to start a second timed lap before the chequered flag.

"This is definitely not the result we expected nor the one we wanted," said team principal Stefano Domenicali in a statement.

"Problems such as the one that befell Felipe are serious and I am very sorry for him as we prevented him from giving it his best shot.

"We need to understand why our performance, even taking into account all the unknowns regarding the various strategy choices, was not up to our usual standard."

Massa leads BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica by two points after eight races with Ferrari team mate and world champion a further three adrift.

Raikkonen, winner at Silverstone last year, qualified third and will expect to slash his team mate's lead or overtake him entirely after Sunday's race.