• European Grand Prix

Massa confident he is capable of winning

Felipe Massa: "From a psychological point of view it helps to have a car that you enjoy and you like" © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• European Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Felipe Massa

• Teams:
• Ferrari

Felipe Massa counts himself among the drivers capable of becoming the eighth different winner this season at Sunday's European Grand Prix.

For the first time in the sport's history there has been seven different winners at the first seven races, and with Michael Schumacher and the two Lotus drivers yet to win a race there is a very real possibility of an eighth. Massa, who has not won a race since 2008 and has odds of 40/1 to win on Sunday, thinks he is also in with a shot at victory.

"I think this year if you look at how the racing is and how many things change with the strategies and everything, you have many possibilities for drivers taking victories," Massa said on Thursday. "For sure, definitely I would put myself inside [that group] and I would be very happy to be the next winner."

Massa said upgrades to the car and changes to his setup had been behind his recent turnaround in form and that it had also improved his confidence after he struggled for points at the start of the year.

"We've changed many things on the car," Massa added. "We started with some developments to make the car better and also a better direction of driving for me as well. I also changed so many things with the setup, which maybe was not the direction to go, but we tried and it works. I feel that the car is much more comfortable to drive and I think it was definitely positive for me as well.

"I think when you start the weekend with a much more comfortable car to drive and you are happy with the car it helps everything. Even from a psychological point of view it helps to have a car that you enjoy and you like, so I think that was very positive. I think we've found a good direction with development now so I think at the beginning of the season we were not very happy with where we were and we changed so many things and so many directions that it's much better now. Now the development shows that we are getting much better race by race."

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