Massa: Title challenge

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Championship leader Felipe Massa believes he can finally win the F1 world crown - despite only finishing ninth in qualifying for the British GP.

The Brazilian is currently two points clear of Robert Kubica at the top of standings, with current world champ Kimi Raikkonen back in third, five points behind.

Massa blamed his ninth position on problems at a pit stop. He said: ""It's a real shame ending up ninth on the grid because of a problem with my pit stop. I lost so much time as the mechanics had trouble changing the right rear wheel and I was unable to start my second run."

After two overall top four finishes since joining Ferrari in 2006, he has been helped to the top of the pile this term thanks to three GP wins so far.

Asked if he felt ready to be crowned world champion, he said: "I think so.

Still early

"I think if you are in this position, you cannot say you are not ready. You are ready. But you need a long way of working and it is still very early to think about the championship now. We need to think race by race."

He added he would not be preparing differently for Sunday's British GP because he is top of the standings.

He added: "Well to be honest there is not a big difference. We are only in the middle of the championship and we still have many races to go, so the approach is the same and the way of working is the same. So it doesn't change because you are the leader or not.

"We've seen four different leaders this year, so we know things can change very quickly and we just need to keep doing what we have been doing until now."

Massa finished ninth fastest in qualifying at Silverstone, behind pole Heikki Kovalainen. Mark Webber in second and Raikkonen in third.