Felipe Massa says there is a lot of work ahead for Ferrari

While its main rivals Red Bull Racing and McLaren have been bullish about the early impressions of their new cars, Ferrari has been less forthcoming about the performance of its new challenger.

Speaking after his second day of running at Jerez in Spain on Wednesday, where he completed 95 laps to set the seventh best overall time, Massa admitted that there was a long road ahead for his Maranello-based outfit.

"Actually there is a lot of work," said the Brazilian. "It is a brand new car and it is not a car that we had in the last year - even at the start. It is a car that needs a lot more work, and a lot more things to try as well.

"Today I did so many laps, just trying such different things on the car. It was a day where we had to concentrate so much on the little stuff, the little things that we need to understand, where we need to collect a lot of data. And I am sure it will be like that even tomorrow - even to concentrate on the next test."

When asked if he had experienced any unwelcome surprises during testing, Massa said: "You always get them with a new car. Sometimes you don't see the result that you expect. Plus some other parts as well, you have a different direction. So I think it is just the beginning of a big job to have a consistent and competitive car."

Massa said that the fact Ferrari has embarked on such a different philosophy with its car meant that there was likely to be a pretty intense testing plan for the team over the next few weeks.

"It is a lot of work, for sure. As I said, we tried so many things different in the car and so many runs - we go out with not everything in the car. We go out to collect data.

"It is different than in the past. The programme is much more different and more complicated, also for us because we try so many things just looking for the performance of the things in the car that we are trying."