Massa at least happy with safer future
The Ferrari driver won the 2008 event, as he also did the season before, but this time around he will not tackle the Sakhir curves amid a crisis with a top car.
If the Italian team departs the island Kingdom still pointless, it will be Ferrari's worst opening four races in the history of the Scuderia.
But Massa, 27, told reporters on Thursday that the pressure is not mounting on his own shoulders if he compares the situation to last year.
Bahrain was round three of the championship in 2008, and Massa's outings in Malaysia and Australian had been littered with driving errors.
"Nobody is talking about my future (now), that's the only difference," the Brazilian admitted in Bahrain, comparing his current situation to a year ago.
"But the pressure is there," he added. "We need to get away from this difficult moment."