Lewis and me are under similar pressures - Massa
After two days relaxing in Tokyo, then arriving in Shanghai on Wednesday, Ferrari driver Felipe Massa arrived at the Shanghai International Circuit this afternoon after a busy morning of sponsor events in the city.
With this being the penultimate round of the championship and the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro man trailing the leader by just five points, inevitably all the questions when he faced the media at the track, revolved around the title fight.
"I think the pressure is there all the time, especially when you are a Ferrari driver, you are used to pressure at the start, the middle and the end of the season, irrespective of where you are in the championship," began the Brazilian when asked how he was coping with this tense situation. "You therefore learn how to cope with it and get on with your job, whatever is going on around you.
"At the moment, I feel good and capable of doing my job as well as possible and hopefully, we will get it right and achieve what we want. My attitude has not really changed now from what it was much earlier in the season and I think it will be the same at the last race.
"Of course, the pressure now is slightly different to the one you can experience if you are not doing a good job, or if you fail to score points in two races as happened to me at the start of the season. The pressure to get results is the same whether you are first or last in the championship. I think in the current situation I would say both Lewis and me are under similar pressures, although of course I would prefer to be leading the championship at this stage. We both have time to think about what lies ahead, how the race will go and what we have to do to win. I think both fighting to keep the lead, which is he doing or fighting to make up the difference like I am, are similar in terms of what we feel."
In a team sport, Massa can expect everyone, including his team-mate to make life as straightforward as possible for him, and the Brazilian thinks both Ferrari drivers will be competitive here in China. "At the moment, it is far too early to think about our race strategy. For sure, I expect Kimi to be in good shape here, which should be good for the fight for the championship. Our car is going well at the moment so all I am thinking is that both me and Kimi should be very competitive and if we can both be at the front, things can look good for us."
Asked what he felt about the fact that, when asked, many of his fellow F1 drivers, appear to be rooting for him to win the title, Felipe admitted it was a nice feeling: "Sure it's nice to know. Personally, I always respect every other driver I'm racing against and that's the way I do my job. In Formula 1 you must never underestimate your competitors as everyone knows what they are doing and everyone is very strong. Respect between the drivers is the most important thing."
