Massa and tyres to blame for poor showing, says Button

World championship leader and defending champion Briton Jenson Button qualified only in eighth place for the Monaco Grand Prix - and then blamed his flop on a bad choice of tyres and rival driver Felipe Massa of Ferrari.

He said he should have run on harder tyres not much softer ones in the final top-ten shoot-out Q3 when, early in the session, he was blocked by Brazilian Massa when he was on a fast lap.

"I had so much space and I don't know what he (Massa) was thinking," said an aggrieved Button.

"There are only 10 cars out there in Q3, so it should be easy to keep out of the way of cars coming round, but he obviously wasn't looking in his mirrors - and it was right at the end of a timed lap as well.

"It was my first timed lap of the session. Very annoying. I don't know what the lap time would have been, but very annoying that he got in the way because it was blatantly slowing me down."

Asked about his tyres choice, he said: "The car in Q1 felt pretty good on the harder tyres, but we didn't run them in Q3 - so I think that was a little bit of a shame really.

"I think maybe that was a better option. We ran on the softer tyre like everyone else and I struggled on it - we had a lot of movement in high speed at the rear and a lot of under-steer at low-speed apex.

"It didn't feel great. I don't think Lewis (Hamilton) is particularly happy either.

"He's fifth and I'm eighth so I'm obviously a long way back, but even so, it's a bit frustrating. The car didn't feel that great in qualifying on the soft tyres so it's a pity we chose to go that direction."

However, Hamilton did not share his team-mate's opinion.

"I can't complain - no problems with the traffic, nor the tyres - but I think we need more down-force," he said.

"Honestly, I had real fun today, a great time to be honest. I love this place, a great circuit, great weather, atmosphere and fans.

"It would have been great to be on pole and to win, but I am on the inside for the start and at this track it is not over until it's over.

"I got everything I could out of the car, I touched all the barriers I could touch and I used all the road I could.

"We just need a little more down-force. Maybe we can be a bit more competitive in this race and make a few steps forward. A podium? I don't know. It is impossible to overtake here - I'd like some points here."