Felipe Massa was understandably relieved when he climbed onto the Sakhir podium on Sunday after winning the Bahrain Grand Prix.
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Felipe Massa was understandably relieved when he climbed onto the podium in Bahrain on Sunday after clinching his first victory and points of the season.
The Ferrari driver came under increasing pressure after failing to score in the Australian and Malaysian grands prix - Massa retiring with engine failure in Melbourne having already spun at the first corner.
He then spun out of second place a fortnight ago at Sepang, with questions subsequently being asked - both of Massa's ability to adapt to the banning of driver aids and of his long-term future at Ferrari.
He fought back by setting a stunning pace in Friday's practice sessions at Sakhir; however, a small mistake in Saturday's qualifying then cost him pole position.
But Massa came out firing on Sunday, taking the race lead from BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica off the line before holding off team-mate Kimi Raikkonnen to the chequered flag.
"For sure, I didn't have very easy weeks but that is life, it is not the first time and it won't be the last," he said after the race. "You always have some bad days in your life, I had two bad days in the first two races.
"I know we are quick and when you make a mistake and are behind something is wrong, but when you make a mistake and fight for a win it is bad."
Pressure
The 26-year-old also admitted that pressure placed on him to succeed this weekend made for a difficult outing on Sunday afternoon.
"This race was quite difficult," he admitted. "I didn't want to make any mistakes, I wanted to bring the car home and control the pace.
"I had all the time in my mind what happened in the last race and I am sure that is normal, and what is in my mind now is the victory.
"The race was really difficult in the beginning because there was a lot of oil on the track, and me and Robert both went off.
"It was pretty difficult, and during the race the car was very, very good, I didn't push completely to the limit, I saw the gap increasing and Kimi was behind, but I could keep the gap to him and this traffic was perfect as well."
Massa is now hoping to keep up his improved form when the F1 circus heads to Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya in three weeks' time, a track he also won on last year and which he believes will suit Ferrari's F2008.
"For sure it is a close season," he said. "Barcelona we like to go to because our car behaves well on these type of track, and hopefully when we get to Monaco we can see if it improved in slow corners compared to last year.
"I think we are in good place for the races coming up."
