Time is running out for Felipe Massa to take control of this year's Championship battle and claim his first World title for Ferrari
This year's campaign is arguably one of the most competitive in a long while as four drivers still stand a realistic chance of winning this year's title.
However, with only five races remaining and a 15-point deficit to Championship leader Lewis Hamilton, time is running out for Massa and his Ferrari team to pip the McLaren rookie to the coveted title.
The Brazilian, though, hasn't given up the battle, vowing to fight until the bitter end.
"This Championship is pretty competitive - four drivers are fighting for the title, so I have to make sure I can be more competitive than the others; try to do the maximum and stay competitive until the end of the season," he told Autosport.
Asked if his attitude this season heading to Monza would be any different to last year's now that he actually has a chance at the World title, Massa said: "I think last year for sure there was less pressure on me than this year, but I was still fighting for the Championship for the team - not as a driver - so I was pushing a lot to help the team.
"This year we are fighting the Drivers' and the teams' Championships so for sure there is a lot more pressure. But it doesn't matter; with or without pressure I won races anyway.
"In the end, you just need to do the best you can. The final result counts; the pressure, you always have anyway."
The teams spent four days testing at Monza last week in the build-up to the race, however, rather than Ferrari setting the pace it was McLaren who led the way on all four days.
Massa, though, isn't allowing last week's times to get him down as he believes Ferrari can produce the goods when it matters most, which is this coming weekend.
"They (McLaren) are strong here, but we have done some interesting work, so we will be quite strong here too," he said.
source & pic: planet-f1
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