Massa urges Ferrari to keep pushing to the end of the season

Although the team has high hopes that updates which include new wings introduced to its car for this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix can help it secure another victory, Fernando Alonso and Massa are still well adrift of points leader Sebastian Vettel.

Massa however has backed team principal Stefano Domenicali's view that the outfit should simply focus on each weekend as it comes - and then only think about the title situation nearer the end of the year.

Writing on Ferrari's official website, Massa said: "So now we come to the final eight races of the season, which means there is still a lot of racing ahead of us and I agree with Domenicali that, as a team, we should simply try and win as many races as possible and score plenty of points, without looking too closely at the championship situation.

"Certainly from a personal point of view, my most immediate aim is to try and record my first victory of this year. It's not going to be an easy few months, but we are certainly not going to give up."

The high-speed nature of Spa, and the length of its lap, should help Ferrari's chances this weekend - and Massa is eager to get back into action after the summer break.

"We will be bringing some aero updates to Spa, including new wings to try out. Everything seems to be going in the direction we expected, so I hope we can have a good weekend.

"Like most drivers, I love driving at Spa and I have some good memories of winning there in 2008, finishing second the year before that, while last year I was just off the podium in fourth spot. I will be aiming for a repeat of 2008!"