Felipe Massa has written off his and Ferrari's chances of challenging for the world championship this season.
Brazilian says Brawn GP already too far ahead
Felipe Massa has written off his and Ferrari's chances of challenging for the world championship this season.
The Brazilian scored his first points of the season after Ferrari showed improved pace at the Spanish Grand Prix, Massa finishing sixth at the Circuit de Catalunya.
However, Brawn GP drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello scored another one-two finish to increase their grip on the drivers' and constructors' championships.
Despite Sunday's race being just the fifth of 17 this season, Massa shook his head when asked whether he felt he could still fight for the title.
"I don't think this year. Maybe next year," the 2008 runner-up said.
"We have so many problems to solve. First of all improve the car, second all the problems we had today in the race, all the problems we had during the season.
"Brawn have won four times in five races. I mean, how can you fight?
"Even if we improve the car massively, it doesn't mean they will not score points," he added.
Although Massa has ruled out a Ferrari title bid, he also said "it doesn't mean that we will not fight for victory. I think if we carry on like that, we can fight for victories".
Starting fourth on the grid, Massa jumped a place at the lights and spent a long time in third place behind the Brawn GP cars.
Struggle
However, he fell to fourth behind Red Bull's Mark Webber late on before an apparent refuelling error during his final pit stop left him struggling to reach the chequered flag.
Forced to slow his pace to reach the finish, Massa was passed by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Renault's Fernando Alonso in the closing stages.
"I think we didn't get all of the fuel inside the car, I don't know if the machine was not working," Massa added. "I need the mechanics to come back to see really where was the fault.
"Already on the second stint I had to anticipate because we didn't have all the fuel as well."
Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali said the problem was being investigated and raised the possibility that Massa's driving style could also have been a factor.
However, he appeared more positive than Massa when asked to comment on the team's title chances.
"They (Brawn) are very reliable and very quick and the situation for us is the opposite," he said.
"We will try to do the best for ourselves and then we will see.
"I would be dishonest if I said there was not a lot of pain," he added.
Massa's team mate Kimi Raikkonen retired from the race on lap 18 with a hydraulics problem.
