Zoom Ten points lost for Massa and Ferrari in Hungary

Monza last year effectively marked the end of Felipe Massa's championship challenge when he was forced to retire with a suspension issue. The team are aware that reliability will again be key for the Brazilian's title chances again this year.

However, there was heartbreak for Massa on Sunday at the Hungarian Grand Prix when a certain ten points evaporated in a cloud of V8 engine smoke.

"In the end it was not my day," Massa said looking back on the race. "When the engine failed I had a strange feeling. It was like a nightmare and I wanted to wake up, but I couldn't, because I was already awake! It was an incredible disappointment. This sport can be really cruel."

Massa's championship chances on this occasion were not dealt too severe a blow as title leader Lewis Hamilton suffered a puncture and dropped from second behind Massa, to fifth at the chequered flag.

"Looking at the standings at least I can stay calm, because not even Lewis won, but we can't throw away points like that," Massa continued. "We lost ten, but the positive aspect is, that we've demonstrated that we're strong. But we've got to resolve the remaining problems: we have to be as competitive as at Budapest, but we need to raise our reliability. We can't repeat certain mistakes, we don't have any more excuses."

Massa is third in the championship, three points behind Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and eight behind Hamilton.

E.A. © CAPSIS International