Massa sees improvements with new car

Felipe Massa stated that the new F138 is "on a different planet" but clarified later that he was only comparing it with Ferrari's model from the previous season.

The Brazilian was happy with the outing on the new car during testing at both Jerez and Barcelona although he had to drive under rainy conditions on Friday.

He made a surprising observation when he declared that the car for the 2013 season was on a different planet. However, many observers believe that the trio of Red Bull, Lotus and McLaren have produced a better machine and have the results to back it up with pre-season testing data.

When questioned further, the 31-year-old elaborated that he was not comparing his car with those of his rivals and instead the error-prone F2012 which posed a lot of problems during the early part of last season.

Massa told O Estado de S.Paulo: "Yes, I said it, but I was comparing it (the F138) with what we had at the beginning of last year's testing."

"This (2013) car is good but still 'green'. When we develop it, we will see.

"I have seen people doing good times, like Red Bull, Lotus McLaren. As far as we can talk, we will have a package of new components here (in Barcelona) next week and then in Melbourne.

"But we are in a much better condition than in 2012."

He was a little surprised, however, that the car had not undergone any developments over the past two weeks. Massa was the main Ferrari driver to participate in Jerez while team-mate Fernando Alonso got the reins last week with the Brazilian only getting hold of the car towards the end of the week.

Nevertheless, he remains optimistic that the engineers will have collected enough data in order to come up with the right plans to modify the car ahead of the season-opening race in Melbourne on March 17.

"From Jerez, the car is exactly the same," he said.

"We didn't change anything really, no new pieces or anything, so the car is exactly the same as we finished Jerez. For sure we understood maybe the little details around the car that maybe we change again for here.

"It's like an evolution but not with new pieces or anything.

"Anyhow it's really the important time that we can bring new pieces to the car.

"There is a lot to work on, there is a lot to do, and maybe it's a very important moment as well for people working on the aerodynamics, on the engine, on the chassis to put everything together in a good direction for the first race."

Massa finished seventh last season as team-mate Alonso narrowly missed out on the Drivers' championship in the final race.

Source: Fox Sport