Felipe Massa: Ferrari needs 'perfect' Canadian Grand Prix

But the Brazilian, who secured his best qualifying showing of the year so far, is optimistic he can fight for higher positions after having proved competitive over long runs on Friday.

He admitted, however, that the higher track temperatures expected for Sunday are a concern.

"The race tomorrow will not be easy, it will be very competitive, so we need to get everything right," said Massa.

"We did a very good long run yesterday, so I think that can be positive for tomorrow. The only thing is that the race maybe will be different compared to yesterday because yesterday was very cool.

"Tomorrow will be very hot, even hotter than today. We know how these tyres behave, how these tyres feel the temperature. And we need to be sure we have the right strategy."

Massa said he remains confident of having a strong race if Ferrari can get its tyre strategy perfect.

"I'm confident, definitely. We need to understand things to get the right strategy. It's not very easy, but I hope we can do everything perfect to fight even higher than where I'm starting."