Massa confident of no Monaco repeat

The Italian squad struggled to match rivals McLaren's pace in the race at the principality, with Massa finishing in third place, over a minute behind Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

But with the requirements of the Gilles Villeneuve circuit being completely different to those of Monte Carlo, Massa is adamant there will be no repeat of McLaren's dominance.

"Maybe it is one track where our track does not work in that direction, but I am pretty sure our car is very well prepared for the tracks we are going to approach now - this race and the next race, plus the other tracks we are going to see in the middle of the season," Massa told reporters in Canada.

"So hopefully Monte Carlo was just a single case and hopefully now we are back in the fight with McLaren and hopefully we can score more points than them."

Massa is third in the championship standings, five points behind the McLaren duo and 10 ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who has scored just one point in the last two races.

Massa insisted it will be crucial to avoid trouble to remain in the championship battle.

"Well, I think if you look at the championship like it is now, with four drivers fighting at every race, then if you have a bad race it can affect you a lot in the championship," he added.

"You don't have any margin, and this can happen with any driver. I am sure that if you have two bad results, even McLaren, if they have two bad results they could be a little bit behind in the championship - and it could be the same case with Kimi.

"Kimi was not lucky in the last two races and for sure in a championship like that it can be very difficult. In my case, if I had a good qualifying in Australia then maybe I could be in front in the championship."