Massa wary of McLaren, BMW threat

The Italian squad have dominated the race at Magny-Cours, with seven victories in the last ten races.

Rivals McLaren have only won once, in 2000, at the French circuit.

Last year, Ferrari scored a one-two victory and arrive in France having shown strong form in the previous races.

But Massa reckons McLaren and BMW cannot be ruled out, although the Brazilian is optimistic his team will be very competitive.

"In recent years, people would say that Canada and Monaco suited McLaren better than Ferrari, while it was the other way round in France and Britain, but I don't think that is really the case this year, as apart from any other factors, we have to consider the BMW team in this equation," said Massa.

"This year in Monaco, Ferrari had the whole front row of the grid, even though I think we had more fuel than McLaren and in Canada our race pace was very good too. In other races we have all been very close. But I hope we will be very competitive this weekend.

"I like Magny-Cours: I came second here last year, having started from pole, but then I lost a bit of time in traffic and I also came third in 2006. It's a good track for me. Let's hope we can repeat last year's one-two finish, but maybe in a different order."