"The only positive thing from the Singapore weekend was that we both finished the race without any reliability problems," says Kimi Raikkonen as he reflects on last Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix (above).

"The only positive thing from the Singapore weekend was that we both finished the race without any reliability problems. As far as the performance was concerned we were a bit in trouble as of the start of the weekend," says Kimi Raikkonen as he reflects on last Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix. "As I’ve said many times before it’s impossible to predict anything before the start of the race weekend. We already understood on Friday in Singapore that it would be tough for us.

"The car was very nervous and we didn’t have any grip at all. In the end the situation gets more and more difficult," the Finn continues. "We stopped the car’s development quite some time ago, while there are other teams, who, for one reason or the other, improve their cars. Considering that the last two races were held on special circuits it was predictable that on a track with such a high downforce like the one in Singapore the improvements the others brought had a bigger impact. After the qualifying we knew that also the smallest goal, reaching the points, was something hard to achieve. We went for the hard compound for the first two thirds of the race, but the car didn’t have any grip. The situation was slightly better with the soft compound, but then it was too late and I don’t think that we could have gained more than one point.

"Now we’re going back to Suzuka, where I drove a Ferrari for the first time. In Fuji I went onto the podium twice, but this one here is a different track: it’s very fast and demanding. I had one of my nicest wins there in 2005: I started from the back and took over the lead in the end. It’s a very demanding track for us drivers. The realistic goal is to reach a place in the points. We’ll give our best, but it will be difficult; as difficult as to defend our third position in the Constructors’ standings with McLaren catching up."

It seems a lifetime ago, but it's only just over two months ago but the terrible accident in Budapest lies far behind Felipe Massa now, and he has taken another step in his programme to improve his conditions - as a racing driver that is - because as a man he has been 100 percent quite a while ago.

The Brazilian got back behind the wheel of a racing car yesterday morning in Granja Viana, where he drove a kart. Accompanied by his personal doctor Dino Altman, Massa drove a couple of laps, before some heavy rain interrupted this first session. Today he went back onto the track for a whole 60 laps. In the next days Massa will have more opportunities in the kart before he'll fly to Maranello, where, the week after the Singapore GP, he will use the static simulator at the Gestione Sportiva.

ItaliaspeedTV: Japanese Grand Prix preview - Stefano Domenicali