'Happy with Monaco show'

Ferrari and Felipe Massa hoped the treacherous streets of Monaco had marked a turning-point for the under-fire Brazilian on Sunday.

With eight points in the bag for sixth place in the principality, Massa finally got his Formula One season into gear. The haul was four times the meagre tally from five previous races.

Just as importantly, he was able to match the leaders' pace and finished the 78 laps just 6.195 seconds behind Red Bull's race winner Mark Webber. “I think he did a great weekend. It was the weekend he deserved after a lot of big pressures,” team principal Stefano Domenicali told reporters.

“I think he did a great qualifying, you always can say he could have been a little bit better in Q3 (the third phase) but we need to look for a wider picture, from a wider angle. He did a great race today.

Massa had drawn a blank in four of the five previous races, with a ninth in Bahrain all he had to show for his efforts behind the wheel. The F 1 rumour mill has gone into overdrive about his future, with open speculation about who might replace him next season and some suggesting that Monaco might even be his swansong.

Massa agreed with his boss.  “I really hope my championship has turned around and that from now on I can always be in the fight for the top places, as was the case here,” he said.