Happy Massa eyeing Australia pole

Massa, winner of last year's season-ending race in Brazil, finished on top of the times with a best time of 1:27.353 as the Italian squad confirmed their form following a strong pre-season.

The Brazilian driver finished ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen to complete a perfect start to the season for Ferrari.

Although Massa admitted Friday performances count for little, the Ferrari driver is upbeat about his prospects for tomorrow's qualifying.

"I would not put money on anybody (to be one pole), but hopefully people will put it on me, and they will win," Massa told reporters after practice.

"For sure it is just a Friday, but it is a nice Friday. It is important to be ahead of everybody. At the moment I did a good job, the team gave me a good car and I am just trying to do my best."

Massa was regularly the quickest driver in winter testing, and he admits his confidence has been boosted by that.

"For sure I brought the confidence from Bahrain, the confidence from Sao Paolo," he said. "I tried to put everything together to do a good weekend.

"I have a good car and a good team, and the most important thing is to prepare everything for qualifying and the race. We are going in the right direction.

"It was a good Friday so I think that is a good start. For sure, it is just a Friday but it already is good to have a good Friday, especially to start the championship with both drivers in front. It was a very good day for us."

The Brazilian, now partnered by Raikkonen following the retirement of Michael Schumacher at the end of last season, said he was feeling more important in the team following the seven-time champion's exit.

"For sure, you take more responsibility and more people are working more for you. And I feel also more important and more important to take decisions," he added.