Massa fired up for return to Istanbul

The Brazilian won from pole position at the track every year from 2006 to 2008, although Ferrari's 2009 slump meant he had to settle for sixth last year.

He said the confidence he gained from his hat-trick of wins in Turkey would give him a big boost this weekend.

"It's a great memory. It's a track which I love to race on, I enjoy driving this track and I won three times in five races," said Massa in an interview for Ferrari's website.

"It's a great story for my career, it gives me even more motivation to go there and push even harder to fight for the victory. I hope we're going to have a good weekend and that everything works well, because it's a nice track."

His 2006 Istanbul win was the first of Massa's Formula 1 career, and he believes it transformed his fortunes after a sometimes difficult start to his time as a Ferrari race driver.

"I remember everything, I remember all of practice, qualifying, the beginning, middle and end of the race, because the first victory is very special. I will never forget that race," he said.

"It was a very difficult race because I had Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher fighting for the championship and fighting for the whole race, and I was at the front so every lap was very important. After that victory, I won many other victories at other tracks, and I think that race made me a lot stronger than I was before."

Massa thinks Ferrari has the potential to be very competitive in Turkey, provided he can get a set-up which suits the tyres and the team avoids incidents.

"I believe we can bring a good car," he said. "I hope everything will work well, the tyres especially. If everything works perfectly I think we can have a competitive car."

He added that the fact Ferrari would be celebrating its 800th grand prix at Istanbul added further motivation.

"First of all it's a great pleasure for me to be a small part of these 800 grands prix for Ferrari," said Massa.

"I will try my best to go to Turkey and fight for the victory to have a nice celebration of this 800th grand prix. It shows how Ferrari is important for the sport. It's a fantastic feeling to be inside this nice story."