There's still a long way to go

A downcast Felipe Massa vowed to bounce back after the Ferrari driver failed to finish for the second consecutive race at the Malaysian GP.

Having started on pole Massa dropped to second behind team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who went on to win, following the first round of pit stops before spinning out on lap 31 after clipping the kerb on the exit of turn six.

The problem, Ferrari later revealed, was the aerodynamic balance of the car went forwards after the incident and the Brazilian lost control of the car when he tried to brake.

Massa's disappointing end to the afternoon came after he retired from the Australian GP with engine failure, leaving the 26-year-old already trailing Championship leader Lewis Hamilton by 14 points.

But Massa refused to write off his title chances with just two races of the season gone and is keen to get back on track in Bahrain, where he won from pole last year.

"It was not the start of the season I expected and I'm very disappointed at what happened," he said.

"We just need to concentrate. There are still 16 races to go and we need to have a strong pace for the next race.

"It was disappointing. It was a very safe first and second but one car couldn't finish. We need to recover now.

"Obviously it's been a very difficult start to the season for me, but there is still a long way to go."

Despite Massa's unfortunate end, team boss Stefano Domenicali was still pleased to prove the critics wrong after Ferrari's disastrous start to the season in Melbourne after Raikkonen took the chequered flag.

"The sense of relief is due to the fact that we really showed our potential," he said.

"We were strong all weekend and that is, for us, the main thing. We knew that our car was good."

But after their experiences in Melbourne, Domenicali refused to get carried away despite Ferrari dominating rivals McLaren in Sepang.

"It's exactly the same feeling as after Australia, when everyone said McLaren were in another world," he added.

"They did a great race, no doubt, but here we see that they have not really had a great weekend.

"But that doesn't mean to say that they will be like that for the rest of the season.

"We know we still have a lot to do to improve in terms of performance and, above all, reliability.

"We're very happy with Kimi's victory but equally disappointed with Felipe's retirement."