Massa content with podium slot

Massa, starting from third place, followed the McLaren duo closely during the first stint, but then began to lose ground and had to settle for the lowest slot on the podium, finishing over 12 seconds behind.

The Ferrari driver was satisfied with the result, despite his team's winning streak at Indianapolis coming to an end after five consecutive victories.

"The first stint I was maybe a bit closer but they were slowly pulling away the gap, maybe three tenths quicker, and then it was difficult for me to follow," the Brazilian said.

"Lewis was going away quite quickly and my car I could not push so much as I started sliding around and I saw them going away, it was difficult for us to beat them but good to finish third."

Massa was put under pressure by teammate Kimi Raikkonen in the final part of the race, but the Finn had to settle for fourth after not managing to get close enough to the Brazilian.

"It was a bit pressure," added Massa. "He was on different tyres than me and for sure he had better grip and track grip, so he was able to close very much the gap.

"But for sure I did a good start, beat him, and managed to make a good gap there, and then we got close but it was up to the last pitstop, in the end it was good. I managed to keep car on track, not make mistakes and keep Kimi behind."