Massa has faith in Ferrari

Massa's lap of one minute 35.748 seconds was good enough to put him at the front of the grid for the second consecutive year, nearly half a second ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Heikki Kovalainen took third, almost 0.4secs back from his fellow Finn, as he outpaced McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who finished fourth but nearly a second behind Massa.

However, the duo were subsequently demoted five places each down the grid after impeding Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso, significantly improving the chances of a Ferrari victory tomorrow.

And after the double retirement in Melbourne, Massa believes he can now get his championship challenge back on track in Sepang as long as this time he can make it to the finish line.

"I am looking forward to having a very reliable car," he said.

"It was a very bad result in the last race, not just the engine but also the race itself was a problem and the qualifying with Kimi.

"It was definitely a weekend to forget. We think we know what we are doing now. We think we know how it is going to be during the race in terms of reliability with all the preparations the engineers are doing, so hopefully we can have two very reliable races now with the same engine."

Massa also began last year's race from pole but could only match his best finish in Malaysia of fifth after Hamilton lured the 26-year-old into a rash overtaking move and he drove off the circuit, ruining his afternoon.

And the Brazilian admitted he is targeting a less dramatic outing this time around after proving the class of the field.

"Hopefully we can repeat what we did today, which was a very good job and a very good lap," he added.

"It was very clean with no mistakes and getting the maximum from the car. I was pretty happy with our day.

"In Q2 I couldn't manage to do a good lap. I was just struggling to find the right grip. I was also too conservative. But I learned everything I did wrong in Q2 and managed to do a great lap in Q3."

Massa was passed by Alonso and Hamilton on the opening lap 12 months ago but insisted he will not have an easier ride tomorrow with team-mate Raikkonen alongside him.

"It doesn't matter," he replied when asked if having the Finn in close attendance meant he was under less pressure.

"You always try to do the best start you can, you always try to stay in front at the first corner. Last year it was not possible. I will just try to do better this year.

"I should have a good start, so let's hope and see if we can keep the same position tomorrow."