Massa hopeful over Ferrari momentum

The Maranello squad endured a disappointing outing in Spain, where even fifth-placed Fernando Alonso finished a lap down despite having led the event.

The Spaniard, however, was fighting for victory in Monte Carlo, and Massa reckoned he could have finished in fourth had it not been for a clash with Lewis Hamilton.

Monaco's race completed a series of disappointing races for the Brazilian.

"Those three races in May did not go well for me," wrote Massa on Ferrari's website. "I failed to pick up points and my biggest regret came in the last of the three, in Monaco. As Fernando showed, by fighting at the front right to the end, we had a very good potential there and I think I could have finished the race in fourth place.

"Unfortunately, there was the accident with Hamilton, which put me out of the running: a real shame, but there's little point in going over it again. I said what I wanted to about the incident after the race and now it's not worth wasting more time over it, so it's better to look ahead."

The Ferrari driver was upbeat about his team's form in Monaco, however, and he is hopeful it can continue to fight near the front in the upcoming races in Canada and Spain.

"There was at least one positive aspect to the weekend and that is the fact our car was much more competitive than we had seen it at the previous race," he added.

"Finally, we could fight all the way to the end, even if circumstances meant that only applied to one of us. Our pace was very good and I hope that will also be the case in Canada and Valencia.

"We should have some new technical updates there, which along with the softer tyres, should be a help, on paper at least and then we will see what the actual situation is, starting on Friday in Montreal."