Massa waiting for Silverstone after French success

Felipe Massa not only took the victory at Magny-Cours he also became the new leader in the championship standings. For the Brazilian there is however little time to enjoy his success as he is already focussing on the British Grand Prix.

Felipe Massa "Two years ago, I started from pole in Magny-Cours with Kimi alongside me and at the end of the race, he was in front of me. This year, the situation was completely reversed although I am the first to admit that I would not have beaten Kimi in a straight fight last Sunday. But for the team it was a really great result in that we started with an all-Ferrari front row, we took maximum points in the race and Kimi set the fastest race lap. And Saturday's result means the Scuderia now has two hundred pole positions to its name.

"Although we had been closely matched all the weekend, on race day I was not so comfortable with my car. I was not very happy with the balance of the F2008 and I think that was the only reason Kimi managed to run at a much stronger pace than me until he had his problem. I had been very happy with the balance for most of the weekend, until we got to the final part of qualifying when we put the fuel for the race start in the car. I had a lot of fuel for the first stint of the race and I found myself struggling with the balance. That went into the race and I was missing a couple of tenths per lap. It's nothing new where, in the same car and the same team, one driver is one hundred percent happy with it and the other driver is slightly less so, maybe 90%, but that missing 10% can make a big difference.

"It's nice to be leading the championship and to see your name at the top of the sheet, but to be honest, it means little at the moment and I have to concentrate on other things. There is still a very long way to go and being the leader changes nothing for me. I prefer to concentrate on my job and look at the testing and each race as it comes. Only after all the races will we see if we did everything right. Sure, it's good to be first and to come to the next race, leading the series and having won the last race. It gives you a boost, but that only lasts until it's time to start practice again.

"I have had a particularly busy time at the moment, as immediately after Magny-Cours I headed for England and the Silverstone test. I drove the first two days and Kimi drove the last one. I am used to it now, but this event can be a real shock as there are more guests and fans in the paddock than there are during the race weekend. As for the test itself, I was quite happy with the car and the work we did. The balance of the F2008 was good and I felt comfortable in the car. We had some good results in terms of set-up and got through our whole programme.

"To be honest, I need to have some rest now. If you remember I had a problem with my neck in Magny-Cours and then picked up a cold bug and had to do two days of testing with some sort of influenza and now I am completely tired. I need to relax and concentrate on the next race. My neck is fine after some treatment but now I have this 'flu. But I am sure I will be fine by next week."