Massa pleased with Ferrari support

Felipe Massa says that it is important that he is supported by Ferrari after President Luca di Montezemolo confirmed that he would be driving for the team in 2012.

Massa already has a contract in place for next season, but after a poor year in 2011 which has seen him finish no higher than fifth place rumours have circulated that he could have his contract terminated early. However, after Montezemolo confirmed Massa would remain with the team, Stefano Domenicali said he would be looking for him to "fight back", and Massa told the official Ferrari website that having the support of the team would help him.

"From my point of view, it is important that I have the full support of the team behind me, which is always very positive," Massa said. "However, at the moment my main focus is on continuing to push as hard as I can for these last two races of the season. I know that next year will be a very important one for the whole team, given that this season did not go as well as expected and it will also be a very important time for me.

"Within the team, we are already looking to next year, knowing that our pre-season target must be to produce a package that can be competitive from the very first Grand Prix, allowing us to fight for the win at every race. In 2012 we must have a better season than this one."

Looking ahead to the final two races in Abu Dhabi and Brazil, Massa said that the team would be using them as an opportunity to work on set-up as well as car development.

"For us these last two races are a final chance to get some good results, but also these recent races have been very much part of our preparations for 2012. We have been trying some components that could find their way onto the new car, but also we have been looking at new ideas in terms of how we run the car and how best to adapt the set-up. I think this is very important as part of our preparation for the future, not just from a technical point of view but also how we approach the race weekend."

ESPNF1