Massa: More speed needed to beat McLaren

The Brazilian had to settle for second place on the grid behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who finished over three tenths of a second ahead to secure his fifth pole of the season.

Massa said he was very happy with his final flying lap, but he admitted it was not enough to get close to his McLaren rival.

"To be honest I did a great lap, but unfortunately it was not enough," admitted Massa. "Sometimes you do a great lap and you are till missing something.

"We need to understand why. We had a great car and I did a great lap in qualifying and it wasn't enough."

The Ferrari driver was still hopeful fuel loads will come into play tomorrow, but Massa was aware that the Italian squad need more pace to match McLaren.

"We don't know what the fuel loads are compared to them but I think they were quicker in all three qualifying sessions so that is a sign they are pretty strong here," Massa added.

"But the race is long. Starting on the front row is pretty important and I will try and have a good race tomorrow.

"The car feels okay, the balance is good, for sure in terms of car balance we have a good car, but we need to pick up a little bit more speed to be in front of them. But it was not possible today.

"Maybe we see a different picture tomorrow, we need to do everything we can tomorrow to have a strong pace."

Massa's teammate Kimi Raikkonen, winner at Spa three times, had to settle for a disappointing fourth position, missing the front row for the fifth consecutive time.