Felipe Massa insists he won't be playing second fiddle to Fernando Alonso when the two team up at Ferrari next season.
After years of rumours, Ferrari finally confirmed Alonso's signing back in September with the double World Champion replacing the ousted Kimi Raikkonen.
And with his two World titles behind him, many are expecting Alonso to automatically take the role of number one driver, leaving Massa to play second fiddle.
The Brazilian's chances of asserting dominance over the Spaniard also haven't been helped by his recently lay-off as he's been out of action since July's Hungarian GP after a life- and career-threating injury.
Massa, though, is confident he can match Alonso, who he rates as a "great driver...one of the best in Formula 1", as he says Ferrari work as a team and that the situation in the past where Michael Schumacher was the clear number one was because the seven-time World Champ had earned that honour.
"Whoever comes to Ferrari is always going to be a very strong driver, because they always have the best ones," crash.net claims he told Brazilian radio station Jovem Pan FM.
"I will do as I always have done - try to win.
"The work within a team is always collective. Schumacher carried a great influence at Ferrari because he earned it; he arrived, worked and created a competitive team.
"To have that position you have to work hard and achieve results."
