Massa concedes title hopes are over

Although the Brazilian will still be in mathematical contention for the world title irrespective of what happens in Sunday's race, he knows the reality is the ground is too much to make up.

When asked by reporters in Singapore whether he felt his championship hopes would be wholly over if the five leading title contenders outscore him again, Massa said: "What do you think? Sometimes you ask some questions that are pretty easy to answer.

"I am not stupid. I know how this sport works, so for sure yes. It is pretty clear."

Although Massa will have a new engine and gearbox for the Singapore GP, he is not expecting an easy time in trying to move up the field over the course of the race.

"We know how it is to overtake on the streets, which is very difficult," said the Brazilian. "It is a little bit like Monaco, that you have short straights, but I hope many things happen during the race so I have the possibility to pass people.

"You want to have the possibility to have a good strategy, so we will wait and see how it is going to go, but starting last on the track is really bad."

Massa also doubts he can stage a repeat of the strategy adopted by Fernando Alonso in Monaco, where he started from the pitlane and came through to finish sixth after stopping for tyres on the first lap.

"For sure here is a place that you use the tyres a little bit more than Monaco, so we need to think about it."