Felipe Massa says he’s looking forward to turning the page on what he admits has been a bad start to the season for him, in which he’s yet to score a point.
The Brazilian currently sits 19th in the drivers’ championship, whilst his team-mate, Fernando Alonso, sits first with 35 points and a race win to his name.
Massa says there is no denying both Australia and Malaysia were poor races for him, but he’s determined to change that at the next race in China following a meeting with his engineer Rob Smedley and technical director Pat Fry, which saw him cancel previous plans to return to Brazil to see his family.
“I changed my plans and came to Maranello after the race in Sepang,” said Massa. “I met my engineer Rob Smedley and I spent a lot of time with Pat Fry, going over everything that happened, because this is the only way I think we can understand the reasons behind these two bad weekends.
“I am disappointed, there is no denying it: not scoring any points in two races hurts, but now it’s time to turn the page. I want this negative period to come to an end. I want things to return to normal, to a situation in which I can show my talent as I have always done and as the team knows I can do.”
The 30-year-old is further motivated to reward his team following the support they’ve given him during a difficult period in his career.
“I was very happy to read and hear what was said by President Montezemolo, our boss Stefano Domenicali and my team-mate Fernando,” he added.
“Their words did not come as a surprise, because I know I can count on the support of what is a real second family for me, which is what Ferrari has been to me for all these years.
“Now I want to transform that into results to pay back all this support.”
Massa will now head to Monaco before returning to Maranello to prepare for the next race where he is hoping an improved F2012 will contribute to a better race.
“I am heading home to Monaco to spend a few days with my family, then next week I will be back in Maranello for further meetings with the engineers and for a bit of time working on the simulator.
“Pat ran through with me the details of the F2012 development programme and we hope we can slightly improve our performance already in Shanghai. Both there and at Sakhir, one of my favourite tracks, we will once again be fighting on the counter-attack, trying to fine tune the car as well as possible to make the most of any opportunity, just as Fernando did in Sepang.
“The championship looks like being long and closely contested, with many teams seemingly able to fight for the top places and it only takes a little to find yourself in the front or the back. We hope we can make good progress as soon as possible and put ourselves solidly in the lead group!”
