Leaning against the back wall of the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro garage, Felipe Massa chatted with journalists about how he sees the 2008 season on the day before the first practice session for the Australian Grand Prix.

Asked to compare his situation now compared to twelve months ago, the Brazilian had a clear answer: "Nothing changes from last year, in that it's the first race and we all start on zero points and our team has the same approach as last year, which means to try and finish as high as possible and to win. This weekend, it will be interesting to see who really is strongest after all the winter testing. Of course, as usual we will be trying to win."

Massa did not believe the fact the Scuderia are world champions has any affect on its approach. "Ferrari is always in the spotlight, whether we are champions or not and we always go out on track with just one thought in mind, which is to win the race," he maintained. "In some areas we have improved when compared to the winter before last season when we had a lot of technical problems which then continued a bit into the season itself. This winter there have been very few problems of this kind which is positive. I hope that we leave here on Sunday night having achieved our target. Where are the Ferraris now? They are sitting safely in the garage waiting for the green light for tomorrow's practice!"

The Melbourne circuit has not been kind to the Ferrari man in the past. "I hope I am luckier than I have been over the past few years here and that this time,my season gets off to a more positive start. But all the answers will come on Sunday. I am confident and feel that I can fight for the championship all year long, and I hope that goes through right to the end, because we have seen last year that everything can change in the space of a race. The important thing will be consistency in terms of performance. It is very important to keep picking up points and even more important will be reliability and reliability in all areas, from the engine and gearbox to the car itself. However, even being one hundred percent reliable is good but it will not be enough as we need to be quick as well."

One difference in Melbourne this year is that Felipe's team-mate is the reigning world champion, but Massa does not see this as a bad thing for his own aspirations. "I feel very strong and positive," he stated. "I hope that the championship battle becomes a fight between me and Kimi because that would mean we have the best car and we are the best team. We are both very comfortable within the team and we both want to win."