Williams had a tough qualifying session, with Massa and Lance Stroll faster than only the Saubers in 17th and 18th at Marina Bay.

The team is locked in a tight battle of fifth in the constructors' championship, leading Toro Rosso by 15 points, Haas by 20 and Renault by 21.

With McLaren's Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne starting eighth and ninth respectively, Massa is hoping the duo can have a strong afternoon to aid the Williams cause.

"I'm supporting McLaren a lot tomorrow because they can get some points from teams that we are fighting," said Massa.

"Also Force India (Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon start 12th and 14th), if they can get positions tomorrow to finish in front of teams that we are fighting like Toro Rosso and Renault, it's good for us.

"After this race, we need to fight hard with these teams that have a quicker car than us for the moment, in many different tracks.

"We have 21 points to Renault. Renault is a team I'm more afraid. Renault has a better car than us and they have a better car than Toro Rosso as well."

Massa hit the wall hard in Q1 and then suffered oversteer in the penultimate corner on his second run.

"The car was not competitive, I had big oversteer and I hit the wall," he said. "Then I came back, changed the tyres and I was doing a good lap time to pass through Q2.

"I got to the last corner, I had big oversteer, I lost between half a second and seven tenths so my qualifying was not good. The car was really oversteer in the last sector."

Williams technical chief Paddy Lowe believes Massa may have been caught out on his second run by oil on the track from an earlier Porsche Carrera Cup Asia race.

"The car is quicker than the times you saw on the board," said Lowe. "Felipe had a bad afternoon. In Q1 hit the wall. I don't know if he thinks the same, but I guess the oil into Turn 20 might have had some impact.

"He hit the wall very hard. There was some bodywork damage, which had some aerodynamic impact. The lap he was on, we think it would have been a 1m43.3s which is seven tenths quicker and would have put him 13th."