Unhappy Massa expects to improve

The Brazilian began the year brightly with podium finishes in Bahrain and Australia and briefly held the championship lead.

However since then he has finished in the top six only twice and has slipped to eighth in the world championship - over 30 points behind his team-mate Fernando Alonso.

"For sure I'm not happy," said Massa. "The beginning of the season was not like I expected. The first two races were okay, we did two podiums, and then we didn't have good races, especially in the last three.

"When you have three races in a row where something happens in the race and you cannot score points, and you go from being in a good position to suddenly last because something has happened, these things are not nice.

"It was the case in Canada because of the accident at the first corner, and in Valencia because of the safety car, and at Silverstone because I had a tyre issue and went from fifth to completely last."

Massa believes that recent exhaust upgrades to the Ferrari have already helped the team close in on the pace setting Red Bulls and McLarens.

"I would say in the last two races, we brought some new parts on the car which I think was a good improvement," he added.

"Compared to the previous races I think we made a step forward and we had a competitive car. I think it is important to keep your motivation that the car is growing [in pace], and hope that for the next race we have an even better car.

"I think it gives even more motivation to keep pushing and looking for a good result in the next race."