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The Australian Grand Prix, inaugural race of the 2008 F1 World Championship, is almost upon us and expectations are growing.
 MELBOURNE (Aus), 12th March 2008 - Four days to go. As always, everyone is upbeat and optimistic prior to the race and Felipe Massa is no exception. The Ferrari driver is looking to redeem himself in terms of both the championship and the race: last year he was unfortunate during qualifying and finished the Australian GP in sixth place.
OPTIMISM - "I can't wait for Sunday afternoon," said the Brazilian, "I arrived here yesterday after spending some time at home in Brazil. My lifestyle there is the same as ever: the biggest change since last season is that now I'm a married man. Winter testing went well and I was very pleased with the car, both at the start and following the developments that took place during the winter months. We obviously cannot rest on our laurels, but the team has done an excellent job and we have a great deal of mileage under our belts."
PREDICTIONS - The reliability of the car, which let him down in 2007, will be crucial. "On that front," explained the driver, "It is difficult to say what will happen, but we are in much better shape than we were at the beginning of last season. We will see where we stand when racing starts and where we need to make improvements. However, we are very pleased with what we have done so far. We have not had the best of luck on this circuit in the past: two years ago I didn't even manage to finish the first lap and last year I had problems in qualifying."
CHALLENGE - Everything in the build-up suggests yet another duel between Ferrari and McLaren. "When two teams are so close, and I think it is also the case this year, every single point is crucial," said Massa. "The start of the season is always exciting, although less now that I am more experienced and have more of an idea of what to expect. It is not only the fact that it is the first race, but also because you can finally see who did what in testing."
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