Massa: title hopes are probably over

The Brazilian has slipped to fourth from third in the standings and is 23 points behind McLaren's championship leader Lewis Hamilton with four Grands Prix remaining.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso led a McLaren one-two at Monza to cut Hamilton's lead to three points.

"Impossible no, but for sure not easy," Massa told reporters when asked about his title hopes. "I'll just keep my head up and be competitive. I'm sure we can fight for more victories."

Massa started third on the grid but pitted at the end of lap nine after fearing he had a puncture. He went out again but returned to the Ferrari garage a lap later with the car still suffering from what turned out to be a rear suspension problem.

"When you start races and have a problem straight away it is a disaster but you can't do anything," he added.

"A result like that is always bad when you have a podium in your hands. It is important not to carry on having these problems in races, we need to work harder."

Massa banged wheels with Hamilton at the first corner but had no problems with the British rookie's manoeuvre.

"He had a better line and Alonso braked just in front of me," Massa told Reuters.

Massa's retirement in Ferrari's home race was also a blow for the team's constructors' title hopes, with Alonso and Hamilton coming in ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in third.

McLaren lead Ferrari by 23 points but that is dependent on a hearing of the governing body in Paris on Thursday, when they will consider new evidence in the sport's spying controversy.

In a worst case scenario for the team, McLaren could be kicked out of this and next year's championships.

The Belgian Grand Prix takes place at Spa next weekend but Massa said he might have one eye on the Paris hearing.

"I'll be in Spa, I don't even know if we'll see this thing on television," Massa said.

Additional reporting by Alan Baldwin