BRAZIL GP: Massa Interview Oct 29 ¨100% Certain To Be New WDC

(from autosport)

As the atmosphere builds up in Sao Paulo ahead of Sunday's Formula One World Championship finale at Interlagos, Ferrari's drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen were called upon to appear at an open press conference for the team's fuel partner Shell on Thursday.

Speaking ahead of what he describes as 'the most important race of his life', title contender Massa discussed his chances of beating Lewis Hamilton to the title, how he is preparing for the showdown and what Ferrari will do if it rains on Sunday. Autosport.com was there to hear it all.

Q. Do you think you are well accepted among the other drivers?

Felipe Massa: I think that if you are well accepted by the other drivers and respected it is important. If you are a great guy with your competitors, with your colleagues. It is always good, even on the race track and off it. We don't know if this can help or not - but if it helps great.

Q. Do you believe racing at Interlagos might help you?

FM: Maybe yes. I don't know. We might have a race with a lot of new things happening or a totally normal race. Sometimes if it rains a lot of cars spin. You have to be prepared for anything that might happen. The race is like a lottery, it can be good or bad, so difficult to know before the race. Let's wait and see what is going to happen with the weather.

Q. Alonso is not one of your rivals here and he is an enemy of Hamilton, maybe he will help you. What is the limit of ethics in F1?

FM: Well, I think in the past a lot of things did happen. You have to win the race and it does not depend only on myself and several circumstances that may occur during the race, we don't know if Fernando Alonso will be useful. If he will be in a good position at the start line or even if he is in front of Hamilton on the grid. Kimi and I have to work together, it would be great if we could have a good result, it all depends on the race we are going to have on Sunday.

Q. This is the most important week of your life, what will you do to focus?

FM: I have my own way of concentrating. Sometimes we have commitments during the week, I have time to stay at home, to work out, to stay with wife and family. I have dinner at home every evening, you cannot compare an Formula One driver with a soccer team. A driver is only one driver, the team like Ferrari are very united. We go to the race track together in a big group and that has to be like soccer. In soccer there are so many different players, the nice guy and bad guy, the one that doesn't like to be on their own.

Q. Are you a good guy or a bad guy?

FM: I'm good guy. I like to stay at home and concentrate on my own.

Q. It might rain this weekend, your ability in the wet has come into question in the past. What do you think about that?

FM: I was criticised. We have to be prepared for criticism, people say I cannot drive in wet conditions because in my career in karting and in lower categories I always won when it rains and then in F1 I had lots of negative wet races. The car influences this a lot and it is not news that our car suffers in the race when it is heavy rain conditions where the tyre has lower temperatures.

When it is a little cold you don't have ideal grip. The tyre does not work in a lower temperature and we suffer because our tyre doesn't wear that much, it is the challenge of any designer but racing with harder tyres we suffer under certain conditions. That is factor, but I never thought I would not be able to drive I the rain. Unfortuantely I had some races this year where I was no good, but in Monaco I was the fastest car in the rain so I don't believe it.

Q. Last year Bridgstone brought soft and super-soft tyres. This year it is different. How optimistic are you for the title?

FM: It doesn't change much, soft and very soft for this race. Actually the super soft has changed. Last year it was a lot softer and it was not the tyre that we most used in Brazil, it will be the one we use now. which is the soft and not the super soft, it won't affect us much. We classify the soft not with the super soft - the super soft works well for us and won't affect us.

Optimism? I have high hopes I would rather arrive here seven points ahead not behind, but I am optimistic. I hope to have a good race, I want to win the championship but the rest does not rest on me. The optimism is always 100 percent.

Q. How important is your family?

FM: Very important. The family does help any athlete. My wife always reassures me, especially in my personal life. If you enter the car and you are happy you can do a better job, focusing 100 percent on your job, so I think that does help and it makes you confident to work as best as possible.

Q. You had a bad race in Australia, and there were rumours about your drive in the Italian press. Do you think you were underestimated at the start of the year?

FM: It comes with the job. Some media outlets only focus on their local driver so if a driver does not do a good job, someone wants to get you out, it is part of car racing, part of sport. We saw the Brazilian soccer team lose two games and the coach was out, you see how the media works. If the soccer teams win no-one says anything, we have to be prepared for whatever comes.

I was a little underestimated at times, but not this year, Not because of the races but because of the negative start I had to start again, I have proven to fight for the championship and that is what matters, not what is in the media every day.

Q. Can the crowd help you. Do you think a Safety car period will affect the title outcome?

FM: It can, the safety car can help or affect your performance. It does not depend 100 percent on me, it depends a lot on the race. The crowd does help especially in my favour. I am a local driver, I am Brazilian so it does help and I am sure people will be rooting against Hamilton.

 

Felipe Massa says he is "100 percent optimistic" that he will become Formula One's new world champion following the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Ferrari driver, who comes in to the 2008 finale seven points adrift of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, believes that racing in front of his home crowd at Interlagos may give him a crucial advantage on race day.

"The crowd does help especially in my favour," Massa said in a press conference organised by Ferrari supplier Shell, in Sao Paulo on Thursday. "I am a local driver, I am Brazilian, so it does help and I am sure people will be rooting against Hamilton."

"I have high hopes," he added.

"I would rather arrive here seven points ahead not behind, but I am optimistic.

"I hope to have a good race, I want to win the championship but the rest does not rest on me. The optimism is always 100 percent."

Massa also said that he was not concerned about potential rain forecast for the weekend, despite question marks being raised about his, and Ferrari's wet weather performances this season.

"I was criticised," he said when asked about his wet weather skills. "We have to be prepared for criticism.

"People say I cannot drive in wet conditions, because in my career in karting and in lower categories I always won when it rains and then in F1 I had lots of negative wet races. The car influences this a lot and it is not news that our car suffers in the race when it is heavy rain conditions where the tyre has lower temperatures.

"When it is a little cold you don't have ideal grip. The tyre does not work in a lower temperature and we suffer because our tyre doesn't wear that much. It is the challenge of any designer but racing with harder tyres we suffer under certain conditions.

"That is a factor, but I never thought I would not be able to drive I the rain. Unfortuantely I had some races this year where I was no good, but in Monaco I was the fastest car in the rain so I don't believe it."