Felipe Massa says he is optimistic Williams can start the 2016 F1 season off to a strong start at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia, this weekend.
Williams finished third in the championship last year for the second consecutive year and enjoyed a quietly productive eight days of testing with the new FW38.
Massa is ready to go for his 14th season in F1 and is hopeful the new Mercedes-powered Williams will be competitive from the very first round.
"Australia is always a nice place to start the season because it’s a fantastic country and everybody likes to go there, it is also a race where anything can happen," he said.
"I’m really looking forward to starting a new season, and I hope we can start well like we did last year. Hopefully our car is competitive straight away, that’s the most important thing. I am pretty optimistic that we can have a good first race and a good season."
Team-mate Valtteri Bottas failed to race in Australia after suffering a back injury in qualifying, so he is looking forward to racing in Melbourne for the first time since 2014: "I really like the track, for me it’s one of the best on the whole Formula 1 calendar.
"Last year was disappointing for me, because of my back injury, but this year I am looking forward to starting the season with a strong result."
