Massa Confident of Points Finish

The Sauber driver, whose Swiss-based team have Malaysian oil company Petronas as title sponsor, eclipsed Canadian teammate Jacques Villeneuve as he lapped the Sepang circuit in 1:35.608 to finish quickest in the second practice session.

While Massa was the fastest of the 20 drivers who will race on Sunday, he was not Friday's quickest man, with Toyota's Ricardo Zonta having set the pace in the opening session.

"At the moment we are not 100% sure where we are, and this was just a Friday, but it's encouraging," said Massa. "We still have a lot more work to do to improve the car and consistency on long runs, but right from the first time I drove the C24 I knew we had a car that can fight for points.

"I lost probably four tenths of a second on my quick lap because I had David Coulthard ahead for two corners, then when I overtook him I locked my brakes and lost some time in the next corner. So, overall, I'm happy with the way things are going and the start we've made to the weekend."

Former champion Villeneuve, slow in the Australian season-opener and with his Formula One future called into question, was 18th fastest over 2.5 seconds off Massa's pace.

"I spent a lot of time checking out the set-up, and we made some progress," the Canadian said. "On the long runs we need to do more work for the race and we need to find some more speed."

Team principal Peter Sauber, however, said his drivers were running different tyre specifications and fuel loads, and claimed the gap between them was not representative.