Renault drivers Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button were furious with Sauber’s Felipe Massa for blocking them during qualifying at Monaco.

Both men said the young Sauber driver was taking up too much of the road when they were on key runs.

‘Seventh position is disappointing when I was expecting to be in the top four,’ said Trulli, who topped the practice sessions on Thursday and Saturday morning. ‘My first run was my only clear lap, and after that I hit traffic each time.

‘Twice, Massa’s Sauber didn’t move out of the way, even though he was just cruising around. I’m very angry about it.

‘It’s really frustrating, because we deserved better.’

Button, who finished eighth, said his car was fine but Massa had ruined his final run. He said he wanted to see action taken.

‘The car was good throughout the whole session – I didn’t need to make any changes during the hour,’ he explained.

‘I made a mistake on my third run, so I couldn’t improve then, but the problem at the end was Massa. He slowed me down, just as for lots of other people, apparently.

‘Something needs to be done about it.’

Given the strength showed by Renault during practice, officials were confident of a good showing in the race however.

‘Up to now, we have had a competitive weekend, and we now look to reinforce our position during the race,’ said Technical Director Mike Gascoyne.