Brazilian GP: Massa believes his momentum is a good omen for 2013

The Brazilian came third at Interlagos, his best finish on home soil since he won the race in 2008 but narrowly missed out on the championship to Lewis Hamilton.

Massa was in tears as he walked onto the podium with race winner Jenson Button and Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso, who he will partner again next year.

"I don't know what to say or feel," he said. "It was such an emotion to race here and I think the race was really fantastic.

"The second part of the year was preparation for next year. What happened during the year, everything came together.

"The first part of the season was a disaster but after that it was completely different, doing what I know, performance I know."

Massa added that it was an emotional feeling to stand on the podium in Brazil for the first time since his 2008 championship near-miss.

"So many things happened from the last time I came through that [podium] door," he said.

"It was actually not a great time of my career but I think I learned a lot. It was a life experience.

"The most important thing is to understand and go back to a good direction, which I always believed I could do.

"Coming back was a great feeling. I was competitive all weekend here, even in the race with the problems I had.

"I was always competitive and I think that is really what makes me proud to be here."