Massa stays cautious on Ferrari's form

After a torrid start to the season, Ferrari enjoyed its strongest outing yet, with Kimi Raikkonen finishing in third position ahead of Massa.

Rival Red Bull, the only team other than Brawn to have won a race this year, was unable to match Ferrari's pace at Monte Carlo.

Despite that, Massa reckons it's still early to judge Ferrari's form.

"I think maybe we need a couple of races to be sure that we are the second strongest team," Massa told reporters after the race. "For the moment I think it is too early to say - Red Bull sometimes they are very, very strong and sometimes they are a little bit less.

"So I think we need to wait for Turkey and another race to see where we are. We need to make more points, we need to finish the next race in front of Red Bull, and hopefully in front of Brawn as well, to show that we can be the second team and fight every race to be on the podium and maybe to win the races."

Massa admitted Ferrari's F60 car is still lacking downforce compared to its main rivals.

"Well, I think to be honest I think we are still missing a little bit of downforce," he added. "So we are still missing slightly a little bit of grip on the car.

"So, for me they have a little bit more grip than us, and they can work a little bit better on the tyres, so they can work a little bit better on the qualifying to prepare the car in the right way.

"Sometimes in the race we show a great pace, in the conditions you fight, but we are still missing a little bit more downforce and a bit of grip. We need to use better the tyres, especially in qualifying, and also when it is necessary."