Massa upbeat after solid start in Fuji

"I am pleased with this first day in Japan," said the Ferrari driver, who finished as fourth fastest today, right behind Hamilton.

"The balance of the car is very good, both on the first timed lap and over a distance.

"The times are very close and maybe I could have been a bit further up the order in the afternoon session if I had not encountered traffic on my last run on the soft tyres.

"These seem to be very quick, which is no surprise, but also very consistent. I really want to do well this weekend and we will try and win and bring home the best result possible for the two championships."

Massa, seven points behind Hamilton with three races left, finished right ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

The Finn, who has not scored any points since the Hungarian Grand Prix, admitted getting qualifying right will be very important.

"It seems very finely balanced with the laptimes all very close," said Raikkonen. "This means it will be very important to have a good qualifying otherwise you run the risk of being a long way back on the grid.

"I think our car is going well on this track and even if there is still some work to do to improve the handling, I am reasonably satisfied.

"The harder tyres are very consistent, while the softer ones seem to lose a bit of performance over a distance. They're not bad on the first lap and it's a shame that on my last run, I locked the wheel and was unable to do a good time. My weekend? I will try to do the best I can for myself and for the team."