Felipe Massa says he is not disturbed by Sergio Perez's performance in Malaysia

Sauber driver Perez, who is part of the Ferrari Driver Academy, put race-long pressure on the Italian squad's lead driver Fernando Alonso and eventually finished 2.3 seconds behind to claim the first podium finish of his Formula 1 career.

The Mexican finished over 1.5 minutes ahead of the Brazilian.

Massa, whose Ferrari deal expires at the end of the year, has not taken a podium finish for 23 races while in the same period Alonso has made the top three on 12 occasions and won twice.

But the Brazilian said after the Malaysian race - in which he finished only 15th - that Perez's performance did not change his situation within Ferrari.

"I'm happy for him and for his team, but [how] disturbing [is it for me]? Zero. I'm looking more for myself, my driving, my work," Massa said.

"I'm never looking for the others and whether them doing well is a problem for me or the opposite. I'm not like that. I'm happy for him because he did a great job."

When asked by AUTOSPORT if Massa felt his performances over the past 12 months had been of the level expected by a Ferrari driver, he replied: "We need to fight the problems and everything that happens and improve the situation. That is the work we need to do and it's what I'm going to do."

Team boss Stefano Domenicali rubbished suggestions that Massa could be replaced as early as the next race in China.

"Not true, not true. Let's enjoy this moment," he said.