• Malaysian Grand Prix

Massa ignores exit speculation ahead of Malaysian GP

Felipe Massa: "I never drove depending on what others think or say about me" © Sutton Images

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• Perez not interested in rumours he will replace Massa
  
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• Race:
• Malaysian Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Felipe Massa

• Teams:
• Ferrari

Felipe Massa insists he is not bothered by the rumours in the Italian press that he could be replaced at Ferrari.

After a poor Australian Grand Prix in relation to his team-mate Fernando Alonso, a number of Italian publications have speculated that Massa could be replaced, with one even running a poll among its readers to see who should take the seat. Massa, however, insists that the outside pressures have never affected him and that he was focused on solving the issues he encountered in Melbourne.

"To be honest, I really don't care," Massa said. "I never drove depending on what others think or say about me. I just do my job thinking about trying to do the best I can in the car. When I arrived here in 2008, people were saying I was out of Ferrari, because I did not finish in Australia and then I did not finish here and it went on to become my best season. Things can change very quickly from one day to the next. The only thing I care about is to have the car I know from winter testing."

Massa will have a new chassis in Malaysia as Ferrari aims "to clear up any doubts" over his performance in Australia, and Massa admits he wants to start with a clean slate this weekend.

"We need to turn the page after Australia and start again from zero and that is what we are planning for this race, which I hope will get off to a good start. This is not the first time that I have had a difficult race, there have been many. But one always has to look to the next one and this weekend will be only the second of the championship, so there is still time.

"As for Melbourne, it's true I have never had a weekend where the car has felt so bad right from the first day. The car was not working the way it should and after just a few laps, the tyres were gone, but this was not a problem with the tyres, it was caused by the car's lack of balance. We are changing the chassis for this race and I think it is the right thing to do.

"Every time I drove this car during winter testing I never had any of the problems I had from the first day in Australia. The day after Fernando drove the same car in Barcelona for example, there was never anything strange or different in terms of lap times, race pace or tyre degradation. Then you arrive in Australia and see that everything is different, so changing the chassis is definitely the right thing to do. But it's not just the chassis that is changed for here, as we are replacing many of the components."

Massa added that the replacement components would not be updates, but that he hoped the car would perform better in the heat at the high-speed Sepang circuit.

"Even if we are changing the chassis and other parts, the car is still the same car in development terms that we had in Melbourne. We have to try this to get the most out of it, even if we are not where we ought to be in terms of performance compared to others. I hope this track will suit the car better."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.