SEPANG, Malaysia, March 23, 2008 (AFP) - Besieged by rumours suggesting his future with Ferrari is in doubt and worried about his form after two pointless finishes, Felipe Massa said Sunday that he was determined to bounce back to his best.

After starting from pole position for Ferrari in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix, he ended up spinning off and out of the race - a dismal follow-up to his retirement from the Australian Grand Prix with an engine failure.

Massa had looked set to finish second when he lost control of his car on lap 31 of the Sepang event, spinning into the gravel.

"I feel for sure disappointed, it was not the start of the season that I expected and I feel very disappointed for what happened," he said.

"We just need to concentrate. There are still 16 races to go and we need to have a strong pace for the next race.

"It was a very safe first and second today and we couldn't finish with one car. We need to recover now."

The Brazilian admitted he was baffled by his spin.

"I had a strange feeling in turn six. I went into the kerb quite heavily and then when I went to turn seven I just lost the car. It is difficult to explain right now what happened."

When asked if he had lost his car because of the lack of traction control, he said: "No. I didn't make a single mistake for the first day, so for sure that was not the case.

"It was not a corner where you need to go very aggressive on the throttle as well, it was a reasonable corner to do so I don't think it was an influence on that."

Massa came into the race followed by rumours and questions asked by Italian reporters about his future with the team.

It was widely reported that Ferrari were interested in signing the outstanding young German Sebastian Vettel, 20, of Toro Rosso, to replace him.

But Massa said he had another two years on his contract and the team said they were not thinking of making any changes.