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Massa sees himself as title contender

Felipe Massa: "I think if we carry on in this direction the chance of winning races and to fight for the championship is there" © Sutton Images

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• Felipe Massa

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• Ferrari

Ferrari's Felipe Massa sees himself as a championship contender this year after making a solid, if not spectacular, start to the 2013 season.

Massa has continued his resurgence from last year, out-qualifying his team-mate Fernando Alonso at both rounds this season, but due to difficulties in the races only managed fifth- and fourth-place finishes. He last won a race in 2008 but believes he is in with a chance of more victories this season and a shot at the title if Ferrari continues to make progress.

"I think we need to be confident and I am very confident," he said. "We need to keep our feet on the ground, but we know there has been a great deal of work from last year to this year in the car.

"There is a lot to do, there is a lot to make this car better and better and make the evolution right on this car and make this car more competitive. I think if we carry on in this direction the chance of winning races and to fight for the championship is there."

Team principal Stefano Domenicali said it was still too early to say where Ferrari stacked up in relation to its competitors, but is confident it will be in the running for the title at the end of the year.

"I don't know exactly where [we stack up], but for sure we are within the leaders," he said. "There are tracks where our car will perform better and there are some other tracks where other cars will perform better than ours.

"For sure, Red Bull is maybe still the strongest at the moment but we will see. Mercedes are there and Lotus are very competitive too. It will be an interesting and challenging season, but we will be there no doubt."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.