Felipe Massa has played down suggestions that
Ferrari should put its weight behind him in the race for the 2008
Formula One title and insisted that his focus is firmly on continuing the kind of form that saw him secure victory in the European Grand Prix in Valencia.
Massa stormed to victory on the streets of Valencia to move up to second in the drivers' championship, six points behind
Lewis Hamilton with the same amount of races still to run this year. The win was the Brazilian's fourth of the year and came after he dominated the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest only to lose the win when his engine failed in the closing laps.
With
Kimi Raikkonen now 13 points behind Hamilton following his retirement in Valencia, and with the defending champion having failed to win since the Spanish Grand Prix back in April, calls have been made in the Italian press for Ferrari to focus its attentions on Massa in a bid to secure a second straight drivers' title, although the man himself said he was simply focusing on the things within his own control.
"My win in Valencia moves me ahead of Kimi into second place in the championship," he said. "I've been asked by some media if I feel Ferrari should favour me for the title now there are just six races remaining: all I can say to this is that I want to keep winning, to keep beating not just my team-mate but the others too.
"Decisions like this are nothing to do with me. I just do the best job possible for the team and leave the rest to the team management."
Although he proved to be the man to beat around the Valencia circuit over the course of the weekend to move up to second in the standings, Massa added that the harbour circuit in the Spanish city possibly hadn't been as good as some had expected prior to the event.
