By Jamie Makin
March 1 2005

The Australian Grand Prix has not been kind to Felipe Massa as he has failed to finish in both of his attempts. He made his rookie debut for team SAUBER PETRONAS there in 2002 but never made it past the first corner accident that wiped out a quarter of the field. Last year saw him retire early from the race with a blown engine, the only one suffered by the team in race conditions all season. "This time I hope I can turn that around!" Massa said, looking forward to the start of the new season.

Despite all of the team's work on the test track this winter, the true results of their effort won't become apparent until they line up on the grid in Melbourne. "It's very difficult to know what to expect, as we cannot definitely say yet who will set the pace," Massa admitted. "It will take a while before that becomes apparent this weekend, but I am confident after all our testing that the SAUBER PETRONAS C24 is a good car. It's not difficult to drive even with the reduction in downforce. We did manage altogether nearly 200 laps at Imola despite the snowy weather; the track is very similar to Albert Park, and we went well there. I think we are in good shape with the car and the Michelin tyres which have been very consistent."

In addition to all of his testing duties, Massa had to work hard to maintain his physical conditioning during the break. "I'm very fit myself after training a lot and the hundred laps a day I was doing in testing," he said. "So I'm optimistic, and looking forward to getting the year off to a strong start."

This will be Massa's third full season as a Formula One racer. Despite a year as Ferrari's test driver in 2003, all of his 34 races have been for team SAUBER PETRONAS.

Felipe Massa - Results for Australian GP:

YEAR	QUAL	RACE	COMMENTS
2004	11	DNF	Engine Failure
2002	9	DNF	Accident

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