Massa feels ready to win the title

The Brazilian has bounced back from a torrid start to the campaign to move to the head of the points standing after his victory in the French Grand Prix.

And heading into this weekend's race at Silverstone, Massa insists he has no doubts about how prepared he is to triumph at the end of the season.

When asked if he felt ready to be a world champion, Massa said: "I think so. I think if you are in this position, you cannot say you are not ready. You are ready. But you need a long way of working and it is still very early to think about the championship now. We need to think race by race."

Massa has reiterated that his move to the head of the standings will not change his approach to the season.

"Well to be honest there is not a big difference," he said about the experience of being at the head of the standings. "We are only in the middle of the championship and we still have many races to go, so the approach is the same and the way of working is the same. So it doesn't change because you are the leader or not.

"We've seen four different leaders this year, so we know things can change very quickly and we just need to keep doing what we have been doing until now."

He added: "It's nice to be first in the championship. We have won some races, but we still have a long way to go and we cannot think any different to how we were thinking before, even when we were fourth. I think I was 12th or 13th after two races, so it is the same mentality that we need to approach.

"You cannot be changing your day-by-day way of working because you are leading the championship. The races is racing, and you know that if you don't have a good race then you are not leader anymore. So that's why it doesn't change anything."

And he admits that with the title contest being a four-way fight, the remainder of the season is going to be tough.

"I think it's a very difficult championship, very competitive," he explained "There has been some ups and downs for most of the drivers who are fighting for the championship. But we are just in the middle of the championship.

"Maybe we can have races now where everyone is finishing, and you need to be there. I think by now things have happened, but you need to always be looking to the next race, and the next race can be different to the others, or maybe it can be even worse. So you need to be prepared for everything."

Massa also praised the support of his Ferrari team for helping him resurrect his championship ambitions after his troubles in the first two races of the year.

"I think the most important thing at that time was that I had a team which supported me 100 percent, and that is the most important thing because even if you don't have a good start in the points, you can have tomorrow," he explained.

"You need to keep working hard and one day it will come, and it came. Fortunately it came in the third race, and it came with a victory.

"That's why I think the most important thing is not to worry about what you read, or what you listen to, it's what you feel; it's what you are doing with your team. And that can make you win. Not what people might think, or what people are writing or saying. That's the most important thing."