Massa targets Ferrari improvement

McLaren are not the only team bringing new upgrades with them when the Formula One season resumes in China.

Ferrari are also bringing a new upgrade package with them to China, something that excites the rejuvenated Felipe Massa, who has continued his much improved form from the latter part of last season.

The Brazilian 12 months ago wasn’t really expected to still be in Formula One after a prolonged period of poor performances following his return from a serious head injury he sustained in 2009.

But during the second half of last season, while fighting for his Formula One career, Massa’s results steadily improved, to the point where he was regularly faster than team-mate and title contender Fernando Alonso.

This season the Brazilian has out qualified his team-mate in both Australia and Malaysia, qualifying fourth in Melbourne and second in Sepang.

He went on to finish fourth in Australia and fifth in Malaysia scoring 22 points.

But with the new upgrades Ferrari are targeting an even better performance in China.

‘I know we have only done two races, but I have a good feeling so far this season, Of course, I always want to be fighting for the win, although that did not work out in the first two races, but the signs were good with an excellent race pace and now we have to keep moving forward race by race. Massa told Sky Sports.

‘There are definitely more than two teams that are capable of fighting for the wins and the championship. Our team is one of them, with the car moving forward in the right way and it is delivering results on track that we expected when looking at data in the wind tunnel and the factory. In Melbourne we had a car that was capable of winning and in Malaysia the car was again competitive, even if conditions made the race something of a lottery.’

‘We will have all the updates we hoped to bring with us in Shanghai, after work in the factory and the simulator last week, I hope this translates into a further performance improvement on track. The aim is to fight for a lot more points, for a podium, for a win even, because you have to set yourself high targets.’

Can Massa take his first victory since the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2008 when he was Formula One World Champion for around 30 seconds [prior to Lewis Hamilton sneaking the position he needed on the final lap]?