Q & A with Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa: Yeah, it's amazing. I'm really impressed with the circuit. I never saw such a huge construction in my life. It's 17,000 people working 24 hours a day, it's just amazing. For sure the circuit is not ready. It's completely under construction but you can see that it will be the most impressive facilities and the most impressive circuit in Formula 1.

Q. How far ahead are they with the work?

FM: Quite far, in my opinion. We still have seven months, and you can never underestimate them, for sure.

Q. Last year you turned your season around in Bahrain. How is the situation compared to that this year?

FM: The situation, at the end of the day, is similar. Nobody is talking about my future, that's the only difference. But the pressure is there. We need to get away from this difficult moment. The only thing I want is to move in the good direction and fight for victories or have good races from now on. It's the same. We always have the pressure, even if we win or don't win. There's a big motivation to get away from this difficult moment.

Q. Ferrari has never not scored points in the first four races. Does that add pressure this weekend?

FM: As I said, you have the pressure all the time, even if you win. The pressure if always there. I kind of know how to work with the pressure, so I'm ready to get away from another one, try to have a competitive race, try to have a competitive championship from now on. To be honest, it's less important what people write, it's more important what we know what we have to do, so that's why we are working together to move on from this moment.

Q. How is the atmosphere within the team?

FM: The atmosphere is good. For sure you feel the pressure. Many people are feeling the pressure. Everybody is really, really motivated, working very hard and everybody is working in the same direction. That's why I believe in the team and I'm 100 per cent with them.

Q. You won here last year, is that possible again this year?

FM: You can never say never, but for sure it's not so easy. I believe we can have a good race. If we are going to win or not it's a different thing. But I believe we can be more competitive and score good points. We need to start our championship, because at the moment we haven't started it yet.

Q. What are the main weaknesses of the car right now?

FM: Well, I think we need to improve the performance as you can see on the track, but we need to improve the reliability as well. That's the big issue, which is quite a big one at the moment. But we have some good ideas which are going to improve the car and we have some good numbers for the future on the aerodynamic point of view.

We have KERS back here, which maybe can give us some extra performance so we have some good indication that we can improve quite quickly. But you can never say never, as you never know what the other teams are doing. They are working very hard so that's why we are here to do our job in the best way possible, to get away from this difficult moment.

Q. How difficult is it to keep everyone focused and not panic in this difficult situation?

FM: For sure it's difficult, but we are all together, we are motivated to make a good job. The situation is not easy but it's quite possible to get away from it.

Q. It must be important to take the leadership in a time like this. How big a sense of responsibility you feel in that situation? And is that something you share with Kimi or you do your own thing?

FM: I'm doing the best I can my way. For sure Kimi is not the kind of guy who talks a lot, so it's difficult to share an opinion with him. But I try to do the best together with everybody in the team, not just with my people. We need two good cars, not just one. We are working very hard, talking a lot and trying to exchange words to improve the situation.

Q. And trying to lead?

FM: Sure. I know I've grown up a lot inside the team so now it's also more important to show that you can be a good leader. Everybody trusts me so I trust them and that's very important.