Question: Your thoughts on coming back to this circuit?
Felipe Massa: It is a great place to be. I love to come here. The people love Formula One and enjoy it a lot, also because of good stories from the Villeneuve’s and also it is nice to be here. The track is a bit different, like a mix between Australia and also very long straights, so it is nice to drive here. I have never had like a great result, never won here, but anyway it is a track I enjoy and hope we can do a good job during the weekend.
Question: Felipe, you have re-signed until 2012. What sort of effect does that have on a driver knowing that you are settled and safe for another two-and-a-half years?
Felipe Massa: Well, I think that is a good point. From the driver point of view it is just fantastic to re-sign for Ferrari. It shows that everybody from the team trusts you. I think that is a very good point for me to keep pushing harder and harder all the time and to keep working together with the team to achieve the best. That is everything I want and everything the team wants and so very happy to stay a little bit more time with Ferrari which is a team I always dreamed to race for. This is my fifth championship (season) with Ferrari and to say we stay for another two years is just a fantastic feeling.
Question: We saw at the last grand prix during the race itself that Red Bull and McLaren were very much in a class of their own. Can Ferrari be up there with them at this race?
Felipe Massa: Well, I hope. That is always our target to be the best. We saw a very strong Red Bull and McLaren in the last race and I am pretty sure they will be strong here as well. We were also behind Mercedes and Renault in the last race, so we are pushing hard to be in front and the potential to fight for the best which is always the most important point. It is not easy but that is what we are working for.
Question: If you put yourself in Sebastian’s (Vettel) place would you have gone for that gap?
Felipe Massa: We are always racing against other drivers and when you are on the track and you see your team-mate in the front and you have a better car for sure you are going t try and overtake. But I think the most important thing is to respect the team. Both are racing for the same team. I think what happened in the last race was not nice for the team, so I think it is important to know that both are racing for the same team and not risk a lot when you are going to overtake your team-mate.
Question: Felipe, I know drivers don’t like to dwell on past accidents, but you had an accident last year and I wondered if it was a difficult decision for you to decide to resume your career?
Felipe Massa: Well, no. Just a little bit after the accident I was normal. I just had a big head but anyway I was thinking the same as I was thinking before. A month afterwards I was driving go-karts and I didn’t feel any different, so everything that I was doing in my life was exactly the same as before. Even the stupid things. When I was playing PlayStation I was doing the same lap times or whatever. Nothing changed. That’s why it was easy not to even think about it.
Question: It’s also Le Mans this weekend; what does this race represent for you and would you like to race there one day or another in your career?
Felipe Massa: It’s a race I enjoy, I respect. It’s a very important race but it’s completely different to what we’re doing here. You need to drive in a different way, a different style. You need to think about 24 hours of racing, not like a sprint race. Anyway, maybe one day we can do it.
Question: Felipe, in 2008 you came so close to the championship title. Last year you had a bad accident; good news: you became a father; this year not the best car; a lot of rumours surrounding Robert. Now Ferrari has placed their trust in you for the next two years. Would you say your life has been a roller coaster over the last 18 months?
Felipe Massa: Yeah, but not because of the rumours but because of what happened in the accident and then I became a father. It was these kinds of things. Since I came to Ferrari there have been different rumours every year. I don’t care. I just care about what I want, I just care about my job in the team and for what I see, how the people are working and how they respect me. That’s the most important thing, not what we hear. I would say every year that I have raced for Ferrari all the rumours have not been true, so what can I say?
Question: Coming back to the situation where you have to fight your team-mate, do you feel more comfortable to be in a defending position or in the attacking position, compared to a situation where you have to fight a driver from a different team?
Felipe Massa: For sure, it depends on the condition. On some tracks, when you race in Monaco, for sure if you’re easy-going being at the front you can defend your position in a very easy way. On some tracks, like here or maybe Monza, they are races where it’s much easier to be overtaken, especially if you don’t have a good top speed. It’s simply that you take care a lot more if you’re at the front. But also when you are behind you also more enjoy fighting to overtake somebody than to maybe lose your position. It depends on the circumstances.
Question: Which do you prefer, a circuit like Istanbul Park with big run-off areas, or the same circuit with the run-off areas of Suzuka? Maybe it’s more exciting.
Felipe Massa: I wanted to speak about turn eight. If you put turn eight in Monaco, it would not be so nice but anyway, I enjoy driving on street circuits but also on tracks like Turkey, which are different, but safety is the most important point as Robert said about his accident. My accident was completely different, but it’s important that because of having a safe car and also a safe helmet we are here, enjoying it and speaking about the next race. I think safety is the most important thing, but I also enjoy driving on these different kinds of circuits.
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