Formula One: Massa Looks for Positives

Felipe Massa's frustrations briefly boiled over in the free practice here yesterday when he spun wildly on oil leaked by Jenson Button's Honda which had suffered major engine failure in front of the Brazilian's Ferrari.

Despite this momentary setback Massa is determined to swing the balance back in the Italian team's favour after a desperately disappointing race in Malaysia last Sunday which saw him squander a pole position to end up a distant fifth at the chequered flag.

Massa believes the Ferraris driven by himself and Kimi Raikkonen have the performance edge over the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso - the winner in Malaysia - and the third round of the title chase will be more in line with the opening race in Australia which Raikkonen won easily, but in which his team-mate came sixth.

"I am pretty happy with the handling of the car which has allowed me to be very consistent in terms of performance over long runs," said Massa after eventually setting the second-fastest time behind the Finn in the first session. "We have a good point from which to work over the rest of the weekend."

Ferrari will be hoping he is right. Massa's performance in Malaysia has attracted a degree of critical scrutiny and concerns have been voiced that the 25-year-old from Sao Paulo is too inconsistent a performer to mount a serious championship assault.

Massa, who is managed by Nicolas Todt, the son of Ferrari team principal Jean Todt, was signed at the start of last season as a replacement for his fellow Brazilian Rubens Barrichello. The newcomer inherited the same contractual terms as his predecessor, playing a supporting role to Michael Schumacher. Last year Massa drove well to win the Turkish and Brazilian grands prix, but both of these successes were achieved on days when the seven-times world champion developed problems with his car and only managed a third and fourth place respectively.

Massa admitted that he is still baffled by the Ferrari's drop-off in performance at Sepang where he fell to third on the opening lap and then slid wide twice during a battle with Hamilton for second in the opening stages.

Meanwhile in Bahrain, Hamilton ended up second fastest behind Raikkonen after the afternoon session. "Today went well," said the Briton. "It was better than the Friday in Malaysia."