Singapore GP: Felipe Massa thinks points finish could be tough after qualifying 13th

The Ferrari driver failed to match the pace of team-mate Fernando Alonso and was knocked out in the second qualifying segment.

Massa will start from 13th position, eight places behind the Spaniard.

The Brazilian said he was struggling with his rear tyres during the final part of the lap, and he is aware that the race will be very hard if the team does not find a way to fix the problem for Sunday.

"It was a very difficult qualifying," admitted Massa. "I really struggled to put together a good lap, suffering particularly in the final sector, where the rear tyres were sliding and, as a result, were degrading.

"It's a problem I've had since yesterday and we did not manage to fix it.

"Let's hope we can do something for the race, otherwise it will be really hard.

"We must look carefully at the strategy, starting with which tyre to use for the start of the race: there's a lot of difference in speed between the two compounds, but both seem to degrade significantly.

"The aim will be to finish the race in the points, which definitely won't be easy, but we'll give it our best shot."

Ferrari did not use its new rear wing in Singapore after inconclusive results in Friday practice.

"Not all the updates we brought here worked as we had expected and hoped for, which certainly hasn't helped," said Massa.

"So we must understand why with a view to the rest of the season."