Stefano Domenicali has hinted that Felipe Massa could be retained when his current contract with Ferrari ends later this season, despite speculation linking Robert Kubica with the Italian team.

As he heads to the circuit where he has enjoyed three consecutive wins, Massa is under pressure, not least from his Spanish teammate, Fernando Alonso, who is currently third in the championship having won the first race of the season, his GP debut for the legendary Maranello outfit.

Speaking to the BBC, when asked if Massa might be retained, Domenicali said: "Yes, I think so". Asked if he was sure, the Italian replied: "Yes".

As Red Bull appears set to romp off into this distance this weekend, and perhaps for the remainder of the summer, Ferrari, like its rivals McLaren and Mercedes, has enough on its hands trying to close the gap to the Austrian team, however, a number of mistakes by Alonso, including a collision at the start of the Australian Grand Prix, a jumped start in China and the crash in Saturday free practice in Monaco which ruled him out of qualifying, have hardly helped the situation.

"I don't want to speak about mistakes," said Domenicali. "We are a group and the team do the best with the car and the drivers do the best with the performance. I'm very pleased with him. He came into team in a fantastic way and I think that he gave input to the team and I say let's wait until the end of the season. He will be very strong... I have no doubt about that."

As for Massa, Domenicali remains convinced that the circuit at which he has scored three wins will bring out the best in the Brazilian. "He likes this place a lot," said the Italian, a masterpiece of understatement. "He was struggling with the hard tyres in certain conditions in the first part of the year, so I think that is the area we need to work with him so he has more confidence in the car.

"It's easy to criticise a driver when he is not performing well, so we need to make sure the package for him is the best," he added.