Rio de Janeiro  - Brazilian Formula One driver Felipe Massa is out to show in 2009 that he has the stuff of champions and to prove wrong those who say he is not good enough to get beyond the position of perennial second driver at Ferrari.

When he joined the Italian scuderia in 2006, Ferrari boss Jean Todt said a low profile could be his new driver's main problem.

"Felipe is a great guy. He has a good spirit, he's a team player, he's humble, he's shy - probably too humble and too shy in this business, because he's not rated as he should be," Todt said.

However, the Brazilian, 27, says he has changed, thanks to the lessons he learned at Ferrari, and particularly from German F1 legend Michael Schumacher.

"Ferrari was my university and Schumacher was my teacher," Massa admits.

The results of that learning process showed last year, when Massa overcame a series of mistakes - made both by himself and by his team - and got to the last race of the season still in with a clear chance of winning the drivers' world championship.

The opportunity, however, vanished in the last lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix, and the title went to the Britain's Lewis Hamilton of McLaren-Mercedes.

"What happened is useful to me as an experience, as a memory, but now we have to think about this year's championship," he said earlier this month in Barcelona.

Massa's own father even celebrated that "almost-championship" in the confusion of the race.

"This year you'll make it, Felipe!" his supporters shouted in encouragement in Spain.

Massa reacted with an incredulous gesture.

The truth is that analysts are for the first time counting the Brazilian as a potential heir to his country's rich F1 tradition. Massa, they say, could end the title drought that has affected the country since 1991, when national idol Ayrton Senna - who died in a crash in 1994 - last won the championship.

Following his second place in 2008, Massa - who started racing karts at age 9 and went through Formula Chevrolet, Renault and F3000 before getting to F1 with Sauber in 2002 - hopes he has convinced everyone that he deserves a place among the best.

He does not want to remain an aide to Finn Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion.

"My role in the team has changed," he warned in a recent interview.

Last year's frustration, he noted, makes him "stronger" to fight for the title in 2009.

Will 2009 be Massa's year? Pre-season tests left some doubts, and instead boosted the image of another Brazilian driver, the veteran Rubens Barrichello.

Barrichello's performance for Brawn - the team that succeeded Honda not long before the start of the season - as well as the ongoing progress of BMW-Sauber, indicated that Ferrari and McLaren won't have it all their own way this year.

Neither the Italian team nor Massa himself can afford the string of errors they made last season.

By the time Massa left testing in Spain he was very aware of the challenge that lies ahead of him once the season starts on March 29 at the Australian Grand Prix, although he still hopes to be in a position to fight for the title with his F60.

"Earlier, I was in a position to say that we were among the fastest on the track. Now we are still competitive, but we are behind Brawn GP. At this time we are not the fastest car, but we will see what happens in Australia," Massa said.

"I am ready and everything is going in the right direction so that we can be competitive," he stressed.

The Brazilian intends to build on his achievements of last year, and clearly drew great confidence from them.

"Perhaps some of those who were surprised last year will no longer be surprised. I was not surprised. I have shown what I can do," he said.

The challenge lying before Massa now is to prove that he can actually win the championship. (dpa)