Massa not underestimating McLaren

The Italian squad scored a dominant one-two at the French Grand Prix ten days ago and are seen as favourites to fight for victory at Silverstone once again.

And although Massa is sure Ferrari will be strong again in Britain, the Brazilian reckons McLaren's true pace is better than what their French GP performance suggested.

"I am sure we will be competitive in the race," said Massa. "At last week's test, we tried some new components and assessed new things on set up and made some mechanical improvements. I was quite happy with the balance of the F2008, so it's looking good.

"But we must never underestimate our competitors because they are working very hard and it's all very close. I think in France, we never really saw the pace of the McLarens as they were always stuck in traffic, having started behind. So we cannot say we were so much stronger than them in Magny-Cours.

"Silverstone can throw up a few surprises and even if we don't have typical English rain, there can still be strong side winds even in warm dry weather and this means you have to be careful as the wind can catch you out and destabilise the car through some of the quick sections.

"But this is the same for everyone, so there is no reason to think I cannot have another good race weekend and finally make it onto the Silverstone podium on Sunday."

Massa arrives in Silverstone as the championship leader, two points ahead of BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica.