Ferrari lick wounds after dismal race

The Italian squad had to be content with a second place from Felipe Massa when, for most of the weekend and the race, it looked like they would leave Germany as winners.

A late downpour, however, left Massa struggling with his car, an opportunity seized by McLaren's Fernando Alonso, who muscled his way past the Brazilian to take his third win of the season.

Massa consoled himself knowing that he had cut eight points to championship leader Lewis Hamilton, but the Ferrari driver could not hide his disappointment at losing a race win.

"A second place that leaves a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth," said Massa. "I had driven a strong race right up until the last rain shower, then once I had the rain tyres on, I immediately felt vibrations which made the car very unbalanced. And that, after I had been really strong when it had been wet in the early stage of the race.

"In the dry, I managed to gradually make up ground on Alonso because the car was great. I was lucky at the start because I managed to stay on track when the conditions meant it was almost impossible, but then I was not so lucky at the end. But that's racing and I have to accept it.

"The positive side is that I have made up a lot of ground in the drivers' classification. There is still a long way to go this season and we have to be confident," added Massa, who had a heated discussion with Alonso following their contact on track.

"I was a bit on edge but then he apologized and that was the end of it," said Massa, whose rival pointed at the tyre marks on his McLaren after jumping out of his car.

Kimi Raikkonen, starting from pole position, continued with his jinx at the Nurburgring, the Finn retiring with a mechanical problem while running in third place.

Raikkonen is still 18 points behind Hamilton, but with one race less to go.

"I am very disappointed," said Raikkonen. "I was in a good position, immediately right behind Felipe and Alonso and the car was very quick and I was convinced I could win. But gradually, the hydraulic system began to malfunction, I began to lose time and then I was forced to stop.

"This knock back does not mean I feel like giving up the fight, even if there is now one less race in which to compete. The gap to the head of the classification remains the same and anything can happen in the seven remaining races. We have a very competitive car but clearly we have to improve on the reliability front."