Felipe Massa is looking for a large points haul at the opening race of the season in Bahrain, following Ferrari's impressive form during winter testing.

The Brazilian makes a comeback to his race-seat with the Maranello-based team, having made a full recovery from the injuries he sustained from being struck on the head by a piece of debris during qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian grand prix.

Having clocked up the most mileage of any team during the four winter tests in Valencia, Jerez and Barcelona, Massa and Ferrari are confident they have a good package heading into this season, in contrast to 2009, when they took a wrong direction with development of the F60.

"I expect to score many points in Bahrain, now we have more points than before, as you get 25 for a victory," said Massa.

"We don't know if it's possible to win, but it's important to start the championship in the right way by scoring many points.

"The feeling is good, but we have our feet on the ground because we know it is going to be a very difficult championship with a lot of good teams, good cars and good drivers.

"But, what we did during winter testing was very positive and we showed that our car is ready to start the season.

"We need to improve the car and improve the performance race by race to be on top, but I'm very motivated.

"I'm very happy with the way testing went and we can start the season in a better way than we began, not just last year, which wasn't very good, but the championships before that.

"I think we went in the right direction and I think we're in a good position and will start the year with a reliable car, which is very important at the beginning of a season, to pick up all the points straight away."

The Hermann Tilke-designed Sakhir circuit in Bahrain has a new look in 2010, with the addition of a loop section in the second sector of the lap.

Having clinched two grand prix victories in Bahrain, Massa hopes he can make it a hatrick in 2010 and he is confident the new circuit layout will suit the F10.

"We hope our car will work well at every circuit, not just Bahrain or Italy or wherever," said Massa.

"The car will be very good there and we want to win on every track, even the new Bahrain circuit."
© Adfero Ltd