Massa vows to help Alonso as McLaren sweat

Felipe Massa, seen by most F1 fans as the wronged party in the Ferrari team orders row earlier this season, has swallowed his pride and promised to do what he can to help his team mate Fernando Alonso win the world championship.

Alonso is joint second in the standings ahead of this weekend's inaugural Korean Grand Prix. He lies 14 points behind Red Bull driver Mark Webber, level on points with Red Bull's other pilot Sebastian Vettel.

The Spaniard had called on Massa, who was told to stand aside in the German Grand Prix and allow Alonso to win, to help him with his title push.

Now Massa, who still does not appear to have recovered from the shock of discovering that he was Ferrari's number two driver midway through a race he could have won, has said that he will do everything in his power to help the team.

The Brazilian has had no influence on the last two races - he started from the back of the grid in Singapore and crashed out in the first lap in Japan - but is eager to get back in amongst the top drivers in Korea and then give his home crowd in Brazil something to shout about in the race after next.

"I will be trying to bring home a significant number of points to help the Scuderia in its fight for both [the drivers and constructors] championships," said Massa. "First we need to qualify well on Saturday and after that, in the race, I want to be in the middle of the battle for the drivers' championship.

"I want to be fighting with those five drivers who are chasing the title, which is the best thing I can do to help Ferrari's and Fernando's aspirations as we head for the end of the championships.

"Korea will be the last of a trio of Far Eastern races and I would like to arrive back in Sao Paolo for my home race with a good result in my pocket."

This weekend's race also represents the last throw of the dice for McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button who are 28 and 31 points off the lead respectively. If the British team and its drivers can pull off a one-two then both drivers would be back in the title race. A win for any of their three rivals would end their hopes. ·