Massa downplays Alonso incident

The Ferrari driver, starting from pole position for the third race in a row, made contact with Alonso at the first corner, when the McLaren driver tried to pass him around the outside.

There was no room for both drivers, however, and Alonso went off the track, dropping down to fourth place and damaging his car.

Massa went on to score his second consecutive victory.

"It was a little bit tight for both of us," said Massa after the ace. "I was inside and went for it, it was quite a risk for both of us, but with the competition and everything the first corner is important. I lost it in Malaysia and it was tight, so I just tried to stay there.

"We touched, it was very close. He was trying to push me to the inside, there was very small contact."

The start was the only moment when Massa was challenged, the Brazilian cruising during the rest of the race, despite a scare when his car briefly caught fire during his first pitstop.

"For sure I think the most difficult part of the race was the start, it was pretty tough but afterwards I saw nothing happened on my car and we responded, we managed to build the gap, we built it straightaway and I had the race in my hands," added Massa, now three points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

"I was concerned with my car as it was the second race on my engine. I was looking at the gap I was building and the race was in my hands."

Massa's teammate Kimi Raikkonen retired from the race with a mechanical problem, and the Finn did not wait for the race to finish before leaving the track.