• Brazilian Grand Prix

Massa targets home podium

Felipe Massa: "I really want to score my best result of this championship on Sunday" © Getty Images

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• Race:
• Brazilian Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Felipe Massa

• Teams:
• Ferrari

Felipe Massa said that he is targeting his first podium finish of the season at his home grand prix at Interlagos.

Massa's disappointing season has seen him finish no higher than fifth place so far in 2011, while his team-mate Fernando Alonso has won once and finished in the top three on a further nine occasions. Massa said that racing in front of his home crowd would help him raise his performance, and that he was targeting an improvement on his best finish of the year.

"We have nothing new on the car compared to the last few races, although we will be trying out the front wing again and I hope it will work well this weekend, without the shaking problem I experienced before," Massa said. "But I will feel some extra power from the people here and I hope I can aim for the podium, because I really want to score my best result of this championship on Sunday."

After Luca di Montezemolo challenged Massa to "prove himself" in 2012, Massa agreed that he was looking to do much better next season, but said he needed to focus on his home race first.

"Interlagos is very special to me, as it was here I started my career 'over the wall' as we called it, on the karting track and I also used to come as a kid to see Ayrton [Senna] and Nelson [Piquet] racing.

"This race is like a championship within the championship because racing at home is so important. I have had two victories here and so my hope is to have another good weekend. Then, from Sunday night it will be time to focus one hundred percent on next year."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.