Massa vows to push for title

(GMM) Fernando Alonso is Ferrari's "great rival", but with the winter test season now over, Felipe Massa also confesses that Ferrari possess the quickest car in the field.

"At the moment I think we are ahead of McLaren and BMW," the Brazilian, who personally dominated the second week of Bahrain testing, is quoted as saying by the Spanish newspaper Diario As.

He said: "It is difficult to know, you can never say that there will not be surprises, but that is my feeling."

25-year-old Massa said the Maranello built F2007 took a "step ahead" at the Sakhir session, where the final Melbourne-spec bodywork made it clear that the red car is the class of the field.

But Massa refused to declare that he is a favorite to win the title.

"I am not the sort of person who dares to say that I am going to win," he insisted, "but what I can promise is that I am going to keep working as hard as I have been.

"To be champion it is necessary not only to be fast but to also possess consistency and luck.

"Of course I am going to try to do it, and if I do then I will be the happiest guy in the world."