Q & A with Felipe Massa

FM: 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.

Q. You looked good in Bahrain, but beforehand were you sure you would be that strong or not?

FM: For sure I brought the confidence from Bahrain, the confidence from Sao Paolo. 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.

Q. The new rule in the race that you have to use both soft and hard tyres, have you planned that already?

FM: I think the most important thing is to set up the car in the best way to be able to work both tyres in our car. Today we tried both tyres and both were working in a good direction - although for sure one better than the other. But it will get better and we will be able to use both tyres.

Q. There are new rules with the safety car and so on, do you know all of them already?

FM: I know them already. I think it is important to know everything because you are part of the decisions in the race when you are in the car. I know everything. It is important to be aware of everything that is going on in the race.

Q. What does it mean to be faster than your teammate?

FM: 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.

Q. Who would you put your money on pole position for?

FM: I would not put money on anybody. But hopefully people will put it on me, and they will win.

Q. Felipe, it looks from the running today that the soft tyre is quicker but goes off quickly. How do you see qualifying panning out in terms of tyre usage?

FM: Well, qualifying for sure the soft is an advantage. For the first lap on new tyres it is better to be soft. But we need to prepare ourselves not just for qualifying, but also the race. And we need to be able to run both tyres and to make it work both tyres on the car. I think by now we were able to do a reasonable good job.

Q. If one tyre is preferred over the other in the race, when would you run that tyre?

FM: If you do two stops, you will run two times the best stop.

Q. But which stint?

FM: That I will not tell you. It is part of our strategy for our race.

Q. Can you tell the difference between a Finnish and a German teammate?

FM: Well, for sure the German was quite successful. He finished his career and he had seven titles. That is the big thing. The Finnish is for sure quite quick, a great driver, but we are in the same boat trying to be at least closer to what the German did. I put myself in the same situation.

Q. Do you have an advantage to know the car and know the tyres?

FM: Yeah for sure. It is a good advantage because you are comfortable inside the team, inside the car. And it just evolution year by year. This year I changed many things but you are still in the same team and you change the evolution with the team. That is good. But in the end everybody is quite comfortable inside the car as well, and we need to do the best possible.

Q. There is talk of a possible night race. Would you favour that?

FM: If it is safe and you can see, why not?

Q. What do you think about the season?

FM: Well, my car is still the same. It is red. Other things have changed. But we had quite a bit of changes in the rules. It is important to adapt quickly to the car's rules and everything, so in the end every year, year-by-year, something changes and we need to adapt. At the moment I feel comfortable, everything is going in the right direction, so I am quite happy to start.

Q. How do feel the technical briefings are compared to last year when you had Michael's input?

FM: It is the same format in terms of briefing. We didn't change anything in the way we work. Not me, not the drivers and not the team. In a way it is a similar kind of work.

Q. But you now have to make more decisions for yourself?

FM: No, we are still working together and we always need to work together to be successful. In the end you need the car, a quick car, so that is the way we work.

Q. Are you more sure of your choice than last year against Michael?

FM: 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.

Q. Were you surprised by Lewis Hamilton's performance today?

FM: I think he did well, he did a good job. I think he is a quick driver so he will be quick during the season.