Having seen his run of two wins snapped by Alonso, Massa is keen to regain the upper hand and force himself even deeper into the title race.
"I think the F2007 will run as a very strong package in Canada - and also at Indy, where
Ferrari has also had good results," he says, "Montreal is a circuit where a good package can deliver a very good result. An important point is that this weekend is the second race in the engine cycle and, although you can never be one hundred per cent sure, I think we have an engine that is strong in terms of reliability."
Honda – Jenson Button (#7), Rubens Barrichello (#8):
Honda again felt that it had made progress with its difficult RA107 in Monaco, getting both drivers through to the top ten in qualifying, but points again proved elusive as the usual problem of traffic in the Principality played against Jenson Button and
Rubens Barrichello.
With Honda Canada once again a major sponsor of the Canadian Grand Prix, the team will be keen to turn itself around this weekend and, despite the lack of testing between races, senior technical director Shuhei Nakamoto is confident that both drivers should be able to contend for points.
"We are pleased that the RA107 is continuing to show positive signs as a result of all the team's hard work," he says, "At the last race, the drivers were able to appreciate the improvements and take the most performance possible out of the car and, at the Paul Ricard test, we found a good set-up on the Montreal configured circuit, which we hope will translate well to the race weekend. We are continuing to develop the car, not only in terms of new aero parts, but also mechanical improvements and, although we have not had the opportunity to test since Monaco, we will keep pushing as hard as possible for the North American races."
Button was pipped for points on the penultimate lap in last year's race, but he remains a fan on the trip to Montreal.
"The Canadian Grand Prix is one of my favourite races on the
F1 calendar," he reveals, "Montreal is a fantastic city and the atmosphere over the race weekend is amazing. The Canadians are huge
Formula One fans and Montreal puts on a terrific street parade.
