Ferrari vow to fight on for Massa

Hamilton's Chinese Grand Prix victory means that he heads into the season finale in Brazil seven points clear of Massa, and now only needs to finish sixth at Interlagos to wrap up his first world championship.

But Smedley said Ferrari will not give up as long as there is hope.

"It's never over until it's over," he told ITV. "I'll keep on pushing until the end, as will all the lads on the car for Felipe."

Smedley added that while Ferrari finished second and third in Shanghai, after Kimi Raikkonen handed second place to Felipe Massa late-on in the race, they could do nothing to catch Hamilton.

"It wasn't too bad but we were just a little bit outclassed by McLaren, and Lewis especially," he said. "I take my hat off to the kid, he has done a great job. He drove a really great race and made no mistakes and won the race by about 16s or something."

Asked why Ferrari could not match McLaren in China, Smedley replied: "You come to a different circuit with a different surface, different tyre temperatures and downforce requirements on the cars, and it [the balance of power] can swap.

"As we have seen many, many times this year it can swap, but you also have to say is the McLaren the fastest car, or is Lewis just the quickest driver?

"Because if you look at him compared to poor old Heikki [Kovalainen], he completely out-classed him this weekend."