Massa: struggled at Hockenheim

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Felipe Massa is convinced Ferrari will return to form in Hungary in two weeks' time following another poor performance at Hockenheim.

Victories for McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton in Britain and Germany have catapulted him into a four-point lead in the standings.

For Massa, there can certainly be no repeat of the last two races at the Hungaroring if he is to challenge for the title.

"Yesterday was not a great day for us," the Brazilian admitted. "It was a difficult car to drive, and I don't know why. I'm sure we have a great car, but for some reason something was not working.

"Although it was very difficult in this race, that doesn't mean we will not be competitive in the next race.

"I'm sure we will be because we have been so competitive in many races this year. I'm sure we are going to regain our normal pace and we're going to fight again."

Jerez test

Ferrari now have four days at the next test in Jerez - starting on Wednesday - to cure their ills.

Massa feels "hard work" will help get to the root of a problem team boss Stefano Domenicali is to evaluate in fine detail.

Troubled by the step up in performance found by McLaren, Domenicali said: "I don't want to make any premature assessment.

"We need to go deeply and analyse the reason for this situation because there is no easy solution.

Consistency

"But what we have seen is something we haven't seen from the start of the season in terms of consistency and pace.

"It's clear McLaren have made another step forward in respect of the consistency during the race.

"During the weekend, in the long runs, they were pretty good. But on the other side, I'd say we were too slow and we have to understand the reason why."