The under-pressure Brazilian, who has made costly errors in both the first two grands prix of the season, was nearly a second faster than the rest of the pack in the afternoon.
He was predictably delighted with the result.
"I am pleased with this first day of free practice," Massa said.
"Right from the start this morning, I found some good settings for the car and then, in the afternoon, the track conditions improved considerably.
"I think we are working in the right direction in terms of setting up the car and so I feel confident about the rest of the weekend.
"I like this track and think we will be very competitive."
Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was similarly optimistic after finishing second in both sessions.
“All in all, I am happy with the way things went this morning and even more so with the afternoon," he said.
"The car is going well and I think we will be competitive even if it is always difficult to say where we are compared to the others."
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