Massa tells Hamilton to enjoy lead while it lasts after 'dream' victory in Monaco

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Hamilton heads to Canada in a fortnight buoyed by a sensational drive on Sunday that put him back in the lead of the championship.

But title rival Felipe Massa of Ferrari insisted: "McLaren were not unbeatable in Monaco and we have the same feeling for Montreal, so the championship is very open.

"We have a good car, a good team, and the result in Monaco will not affect our chances to fight for the title."

On top: McLaren's Lewis Hamilton raises his arms after winning the Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo on Sunday.

In Canada 12 months ago Hamilton gained his first Grand Prix win, and the best Ferrari could manage was Kimi Raikkonen taking a distant fifth place but team manager Stefan Domenicali is now backing the Italian outfit to make up for that poor showing.

He said: "We are much more confident and hopefully it will be a different situation from what we saw last year.

"Don't forget we've won four races out of six this season, that's important. Hamilton is leading the championship now, but there is a long, long way to go."

The point was not lost on McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh who is aware that Hamilton's three-point lead in the drivers' title chase can quickly be eradicated.

He said: "We're six races in and we've got to make sure that we're stamping some authority on the championship.

"The race now is to see who can develop their car at the fastest rate. "We're not discounting BMW, they're still strong and they're doing a competent job.

"But Ferrari are going to continue to improve, we're going to continue to improve, and if we improve at a faster rate then we can win."

The McLaren boss also revealed his driver would probably not have finished in Monaco had the race lasted a lap longer.

"Lewis had a puncture on the slowing down lap. We were lucky in that regard," admitted Whitmarsh.

Hamilton now heads the drivers' championship with 38 points, three more than Raikkonen who failed to score in Monaco after two crashes, and four ahead of Massa. Ferrari lead the constructors' table with 69 points to McLaren's 53.