A better insight - Massa

Sporting the tan he acquired in Bali, where he holidayed before coming to Australia at the start of the week, Felipe Massa met the media this afternoon and the first topic was family, both biological and social.

"I like having my family with me at the races," began Felipe Massa. "They give me a lot of support, although this weekend, they are not here as they have returned to Brazil. But I have another family as Ferrari is definitely like a big family and I feel very comfortable inside the team. In 2003 I was a test driver here so I know everyone very well now. I am still the same guy, except that I have a lot more experience and know how to behave as a driver at the track and also outside the race track."

To continue the family analogy, the press made the point to Felipe that he is the youngest member of the Ferrari family and has yet to make his mark. "All I can do is to try my best all the time," he replied. "With every test session and every race, I am getting a better insight about these people I work with. I am still in what I consider to be at the start of my career."

After what started out as a very difficult weekend, the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver put in a very strong showing in the last round in Malaysia. "It was great," he recalled. "I had a good race, starting from the back and making up a lot of positions. I enjoyed my fight with Michael. We pushed each other quite hard in the last ten laps. For me it was a great result and a great achievement. I hope we can continue fighting one another in this clean way throughout the season. We pushed each other to the limit and that was very good. I have always had a good relationship with Michael and he is very nice towards me. We always talk a lot together about the set up of the car and the tyres. I think that is really good for the team as it helps us to improve and work in the right direction."