A lot more motivation - Massa

Just four days after facing the media in the post-Europe GP "top three" press conference, Felipe Massa was once again sat down in front of a microphone in the FIA press conference at the Circuit de Catalunya which hosts this Sunday's sixth round of the world championship.

"First of all it gives you happiness and then a lot more motivation," was the Massa's response when asked what his first ever podium at the Nurburgring last Sunday had meant to him. "It was very, very important for me and a great result." That last race marked the arrival of a new race engineer for Massa and he explained what had prompted the change from Gabriele Delli Colli to Rob Smedley. "First of all, anyone who is a race engineer for Ferrari is very good at their job and my previous engineer was very good," explained Felipe. "The only reason we changed is that we felt there were some problems with our communication over the radio. I think my new engineer has made a difference as we have been able to work not just on car set-up but on other aspects of the whole race weekend."

Even though one questioner pointed out that the Renault team has spent more time testing at this Spanish track than Ferrari, Massa's optimism for the coming weekend remains high. "I don't think we will be at a disadvantage here because of that," he said. "We have improved our car a lot over the past two races, so I am sure we can also be competitive here."

A month to go and already the inevitable questions about the Football World Cup. Interestingly enough, at least two of the other drivers on the FIA conference agreed with the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver when it came to tipping who which country would win and who would be the best player - Brazil and Ronaldinho!