Number one priority to stay with Ferrari - Massa

Against the backdrop of the former Olympic Rowing Basin, Felipe Massa held his usual Thursday media meeting "al fresco" as facilities here in the paddock of the "Gilles Villeneuve" circuit are very different to those in Europe.

If the environment is different, the questions however are similar, starting with the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver asked to assess his season so far. "I think my results with Ferrari so far this year have been okay, with some good ones mixed in with some unlucky races too," began Felipe Massa. "I think if you put everything together I can be happy and for sure I am looking forward to only having the good results between now and the end of the season."

The press have decided that the angle that needs chasing this weekend is that Massa's role should be to help team-mate Schumacher in his quest for the title. Felipe quite naturally sees the bigger picture: "Everyone's role in the team is important when you are trying to win," he began. "Everyone, me, Michael and the team have to do our best, but of course the guys at Renault are thinking exactly the same thing. Our objective is obviously to finish as a team ahead of our strongest rivals and me and Michael are both trying to do exactly that. We have not managed that in the last two races."

As for the circuit itself, Massa's comments are as follows: "I think it's very interesting with a long straight but even so overtaking is not so easy. It's a nice track to race on, but its not one of my favourites." While it is clear from these remarks that he does not particularly like this circuit, Massa is confident that this event along with the US Grand Prix in one week's time, should see an upturn in performance from the Scuderia. "I think we will be stronger here because at the Paul Ricard test last week we ran in low downforce configuration aimed at suiting circuits where you need more straight line speed and I was impressed with what I saw there," he said. "It went very well and I hope this will give us a car that here in Canada will allow to get ahead of the Renaults. There are so many positive things to come out of this test. It was impressive and we were very strong at Ricard and compared well to the other teams that were there. I also think we have a good tyre choice for Montreal and now is the right time with everything in place to get ahead of the competition."

As the season reaches its halfway point - this race on Sunday will be number nine of eighteen - the driver rumour market is in full swing and Massa was asked if he had also been involved in talks with teams other than the Scuderia. "Of course my number one priority is to stay with Ferrari, but I have no need to hide the fact that I have also talked to other teams," he revealed. "While I think I have a chance of staying at Ferrari, I also have to see what else is available, even if I don't want to go into details. For the moment though I feel I have a strong chance of staying where I am."