Felipe Massa

After a season of testing with Ferrari Felipe Massa returned to Sauber this year to show what he had learned. The early indications were not too impressive, and the Brazilian had done little until Monaco, where he plugged away and eventually earned himself a respectable fifth place.

Hitherto he has been largely overshadowed by team mate Giancarlo Fisichella. Massa perhaps had the upper hand in the first two races, although Fisi was stuck with a dud engine in Malaysia. Since then the Italian has been much the better performer, impressing the team with his speed and feedback. Felipe in contrast has at times frustrated the Swiss outfit with his inconsistency.

Ferrari no longer seems too excited about Massa (although Jean Todt's son manages him), and it remains to be seen where his long-term future lies. But Monaco could be a turning point, and he's looking for another good result at the Nurburgring, where he finished sixth, ahead of team mate Nick Heidfeld, in 2002.

"For sure to finish in fifth position again will be very difficult for us," says Massa. "We saw in the first five races we scored only three points, so it's a very difficult position. But honestly, I think we can do well at Nurburgring. We have to keep looking for the opportunities, and maybe we'll have rain as well."

Massa's fifth place in Monaco was all the more impressive considering it was a race of such high attrition. If you had compiled a list of the drivers likely to make it safely through 78 laps of the street track he would not be very high on it, although to be fair his crash at Ste Devote in 2002 was a result of brake failure.

From the start of practice this year he looked a little wild, and was fortunate indeed to escape a hair raising flat out spin at the Swimming Pool with just a touch on the barrier. However, during the race he kept his head and stayed out of trouble, taking full advantage as others had problems.

"I did a good start, and overtook two cars. I saw at the beginning of the race that there were a lot of incidents, a lot of cars crashing. I knew that it was going to be a very tough race and a very difficult race to finish, and then I just put in my mind to take care and just finish the race and keep a good pace and be consistent.

"It was nice. For sure I had a but of luck with the second safety car, because I just came straight to the pits. I put enough fuel to finish the race, which for sure gave me a little bit of trouble in the end. I was supposed to do 29 laps with my normal strategy, but I did 39 because of the safety car. That's why in the last 10 laps I didn't have rear tyres any more!

"It was a bit difficult to keep the car on the track in the last 10 laps, but it was a great race. Another thing which is fantastic was that I could finish the race in front of da Matta."

When a Sauber bounced high in the air after failing to slow down for Sato's smoke screen Massa was the name that sprang to mind, but in fact it was his team mate who messed up on this occasion.

"I didn't see anything, to be honest," says Felipe. "I just saw Ralf in front of me, and he was very slow in the middle of the track. I braked because it was impossible to see something in front - there was smoke everywhere. I didn't see Giancarlo crash. I just saw his front wing in the middle of the track, but I didn't see the car! It was a bit strange..."

The Brazilian now lies a handy ninth in the championship, but with the likes of Ralf and Sato ahead of him, he's unlikely to make much progress personally, although the team heads an intriguing fight involving McLaren, Toyota, Jaguar and Jordan.

"It's really good. After getting four points for sure you can breathe much better, and now we are in front of McLaren! It's brilliant for the team, it's very good for me, and I think if we go in this direction we can have a very good position in the end of the championship."