Massa Expects Best F1 Start in Career

To say that Ferrari had a miserable start of a season in 2009 would be an understatement. The Scuderia scored its first points in the championship at the end of Round 4, in Bahrain, which is where the 2010 season gets off later this week. However, as compared to last year, all the people at Maranello are expecting a complete turnaround of last season's form, aiming to power the Prancing Horse to the top of the classification from the get go.

As Fernando Alonso wasn't with Ferrari last year when it all happened – although he experienced the same feelings with Renault – Felipe Massa remembers all of it and insists that the 2010 campaign will be tackled entirely different by the whole team. Consequently, the expectations for this season are high to say the least.

“I am very happy and very motivated that we can start the championship in a better way not just than last year, which was not a very good year, but also than the other championships,” said an over-optimistic Felipe Massa less than 2 days before the season opening Bahrain GP.

“It looks like we are in good condition to start the championship with a good car and a reliable car, which is good for the start of the season. It's good to think about the points straight away,” added the Brazilian driver, who insisted that “the feeling is really, really good” within the Ferrari garage prior to the start of the season.

Ferrari was considered by many as the benchmark team during testing, although during the last outing in Barcelona, both Red Bull and McLaren have challenged the Scuderia for the top spot – and succeeded in doing it – throughout the entire 4 days of action. Although topping a single test in February – the first one, in Valencia – Ferrari are regarded as the team to beat in Bahrain by many of the F1 pundits (sharing that first stop with Red Bull).