Ferrari confused by Massa’s lack of pace

It seems this is the week for investigations as Ferrari revealed they are to launch one of their own into why Felipe Massa struggled in Spain. Hot on the heels of McLaren confirming that they will look into the cause of Lewis Hamilton's tire failure, Ferrari announced that they are attempting to find the reason why Massa is struggled compared to his team-mate Fernando Alonso.

For the past four races, Massa has floundered compared to his teammate, a strange statement given that in two of those he actually finished ahead of the Spaniard.

However, in Australia, Alonso had the better pace but just wasn't able to find a way through and suffered the same fate at the following race in Malaysia before he was undone by an engine failure.

But it was perhaps on Sunday in Spain where Massa's lack of pace became most notable. While Alonso was racing just outside the podiums, Massa was barely in the top eight and finished the race over 40 seconds behind his team-mate.

"We have to make sure the car is one he feels confident driving. For the first time this weekend it was not the case," Domenicali told the BBC.

"It is important to go back and see what we have done around Felipe's car."

Massa himself is concerned by his lack of pace, admitting he has no idea why he is battling to match Alonso.

"Fernando is a very good driver but something has happened to me," said the 29-year-old. "Something is not going like I want, so I can't do the lap time or drive the car like I want.

"This is something that we need to understand, and improve.

"It looks like something is not working out to give the grip. This is something that we need to understand, but I'm sure we will." PlanetF1