• Turkish Grand Prix

Massa fired up by past success in Turkey

Felipe Massa celebrates winning the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, his first in Formula One © Sutton Images

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• News:
• Alonso aims to close gap to Red Bulls in Turkey
  

• Race:
• Turkish Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Felipe Massa

• Teams:
• Ferrari

Felipe Massa is in a confident frame of mind approaching the Turkish Grand Prix weekend given his impressive record of success in Istanbul.

A dominant force at Istanbul Park, Massa has won from pole position at the circuit every year from 2006 to 2008 and is looking to get back to winning ways again in 2010.

"It's a great memory. It's a track which I love to race on, I enjoy driving this track and I won three times in five races," Massa told Ferrari's website. "It's a great story for my career, it gives me even more motivation to go there and push even harder to fight for the victory. I hope we're going to have a good weekend and that everything works well, because it's a nice track."

Victory at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix marked the first of Massa's Formula One career, a win that gave him the confidence to become a championship contender.

"I remember everything, I remember all of practice, qualifying, the beginning, middle and end of the race, because the first victory is very special. I will never forget that race.

"It was a very difficult race because I had Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher fighting for the championship and fighting for the whole race, and I was at the front so every lap was very important. After that victory, I won many other victories at other tracks, and I think that race made me a lot stronger than I was before."

Despite the early season dominance of the Red Bull cars, Massa thinks Ferrari has the potential to once again be a competitive force in Turkey.

"I believe we can bring a good car. I hope everything will work well, the tyres especially. If everything works perfectly I think we can have a competitive car.

"I will try my best to go to Turkey and fight for the victory to have a nice celebration of this 800th grand prix. It shows how Ferrari is important for the sport. It's a fantastic feeling to be inside this nice story."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.