Massa defends Monaco performance

"Ferrari know my worth and what I'm capable of, so it's certainly not an error like that that can change everything," Massa told Gazzetta dello Sport. "I carry on working as I always have.

"The only positive thing from the Grand Prix at Monaco is that the car has demonstrated to be competitive, so I'm looking forward to Silverstone.

"What happened was strange, because the car was well balanced and nothing like that has ever happened to me in that spot," he added. "Maybe the tyres were still a bit cold: all of a sudden I lost the rear and crashed.

"It's a shame because I had the opportunity of ending up in the top three."

Massa crashed out during the first part of qualifying at Monte Carlo, having to start the race from the back of the grid, right ahead of teammate Michael Schumacher.

The German driver was sent to the back of the grid after race stewards ruled he had deliberately stopped on track to stop his rivals from improving their qualifying times.

Schumacher, however, climbed back to fifth position, while Massa finished outside the points in ninth.

"It was a difficult race: unfortunately at the start I had to slow down because of the accident between the two Midlands," he said. "Compared to Michael, who immediately started to overtake because his tyres were already at a good temperature, I was entangled in traffic.

"I only had three laps with no one in front of me after the pitstop, and it's then when I managed to drive my fastest lap."