Massa facing uphill battle at Fuji

The Ferrari driver will start the Fuji race from fifth position after suffering from tyre issues in his final two runs in Q3.

Massa, who posted the fastest time of the day in Q2, said he was lacking grip during his runs and the Brazilian saw his time being bettered by Heikki Kovalainen and Fernando Alonso in the dying moments of the session.

Massa is seven points behind Lewis Hamilton in the championship and the Briton will start tomorrow's race from pole.

The Brazilian is still confident Ferrari will be strong in the race, and he is hoping a good start will help him.

"A shame," said Massa. "Today I was the quickest man on track but at the wrong moment. In Q3, I never had the right amount of grip from both sets of tyres that I used.

"On my first run I was a bit cautious on my 'out' lap and so suffered in the first sector, making a mistake at Turn 3.

"On the second run, I did the opposite and found myself without grip at the end of the lap. So, I've ended up fifth on the grid, which is definitely not an easy place to be.

"I will try and work my way up in the race to score big points for the championship. All the same, the set-up on the car is good and we should be competitive.

"The first corner? It's similar to the one at the Hungaroring, so I hope I can manage to repeat the good start I got there."