Motivation no matter for Massa

Ferrari's Felipe Massa insists that he is more determined than ever to turn around the Scuderia's pointless start to the 2009 Formula One season, despite admitting that it may take time to overcome the blow of it losing its diffuser appeal.

Speaking to the media at an unusually cool Shanghai International Circuit, the Brazilian conceded that he did not expect to suddenly be back at the front of the field as Ferrari worked on its answer to the 'double-decker' diffusers being run by Brawn, Williams and Toyota, but insisted that he was eager to help the Prancing Horse recover its form.

“My motivation is still the same - to work very hard with the team to improve the car as quickly as possible and to score points as quickly as possible,” he said, “I am motivated to start a better championship at this race.

"We need to work hard now to bring the new parts to the race track as quickly as possible. It won't be easy because it is going to be a difficult job and, of course, the decision in Paris does not make our life easy in terms of the championship, where we effectively have some teams that have a different type of car. It won't be simple to catch them, but I hope it's not too late to do so.

"I hope our new car comes in good time to fight for the championship and win some races. You can be sure that we will never give up the fight and I believe in our ability to improve the car."

With Ferrari having opted not to run its cars with the potentially-beneficial KERS technology this weekend, Massa acknowledged that he could be in for a tough time in China.

“Our car is pretty similar to what we had in Malaysia a fortnight ago, although we have a few aerodynamic updates,” he revealed, "It won't be an easy race for us, but at least the car has taken a small step forward. This means I hope we can be a bit more competitive than we were at the first two races."