Ferrari’s Felipe Massa hopes Pirelli tyres will give him the edge

Last season the Brazilian driver struggled and finished sixth in the standings at the end of the championship. Massa believes he knows what slowed him down last season and vows to do better this time around. "It was a very bad year definitely for me," Massa began. "I didn’t have the car I wanted to drive, because of the tyres especially. The front tyres were very weak in comparison to the previous years, and for me driving style it was very difficult. "I’m really looking forward to a nice year, a nice 2011, when I can drive the car I wanted to drive. We have so many changes in the rules that I hope we can build a good car as well. "The biggest problem with motivation was driving the car like I wanted, that was the most difficult in 2010. I know if I have everything I want in my hands I know what I’m able to do, this is what I am looking forward to in 2011, to learn everything very well, all of the new changes, and to be strong from the first to the last race." Massa felt the new rubber suited his driving style more than the Bridgestone tyres, after the Pirelli tyre test in Abu Dhabi at the end of the season "Well I like it," he said about the Pirelli tyres. "The first [test] that we did with the Pirelli’s was positive. The way of driving the car was better, in terms of the tyre’s front grip, which was different in 2010. I think it was positive to my driving style, we drove in a different car because the car from last year will be different than the car from this year." Massa also talked about the changes that are being introduced to the sport in 2011. "We’re going to have KERS back, we’re going to have the new wing, which is a little bit new for everybody, which I hope it works like it has to work. We don’t have the famous diffuser anymore, so there’s a lot of change that I hope we’re going to be on target with, and I hope we build a good car as well." "I think if [the wing] works like it has to, it will be a help definitely, but we don’t know exactly how it is going to be, with the loop if it works as well as it has to in the races because we’ve never tried. We need to wait a little bit after [trying it], after you know if it works exactly like everybody wants, and makes the people at home watching the races happier. I think it can be good for the sport." Massa is adamant that he will be able to give team-mate Alonso a harder time in the new 2011 season, and push him much more than he was able to last year. "No, for sure he [Alonso] had a better year than me," Massa commented. "I am here since six years, this is my sixth championship with Ferrari. For sure in 2007 when Kimi [Räikkönen] arrived and he won everyone talked about him at the end of the year, and then 2008 I was there. "So it is another time, Fernando had a better season than me and so I feel people are talking much more about him. But I know what I can do inside the team, I know how the team looks at me as well, and I think that is important."