Meagre rewards in HungaryFerrari boss Jean Todt has admitted that his team must be near perfect for the remainder of the season if they are to challenge for championship honours.
Kimi Raikkonen claimed second place in the Hungarian Grand Prix but Brazilian Felipe
Massa could only manage 13th after a qualifying blunder gave him too much ground to make up in Sunday's race.
Raikkonen is now 20 points behind driver's championship leader Lewis Hamilton who claimed his third win of the season in Budapest.
The situation is similarly bleak in the constructor's competition where Ferrari are 19 points behind McLaren despite the British team not earning any points at the Hungaroring.
With just six races remaining Todt knows that to have any chance of glory this year his team must be mistake-free from here on.
"A second and 13th place are a meagre reward for this weekend," he said. "We knew this track would not suit us that well. Now we need to try and get both our drivers on the podium all the time to try and make up the gaps in both championships for the remaining third of the season."
"We have all we need - the team, the car and the drivers - but we have not always been able to put them all together to the best effect. If we don't manage it, the championships will not be won," he continued.
"I am always worried, and of course I would prefer to have both drivers 20 points ahead. But saying that, I think it makes a very intense and interesting challenge.
If we are able to be on the podium for both cars for the six remaining Grands Prix of the season, which is possible, I still think that we have a chance to achieve our goal," Todt concluded.
After outpacing the Brit for most of the race, Raikkonen was left wondering what might have been had he started in front of Hamilton who proved impossible to overtake.
"I fought to the very end to try to win, but I never had a real chance to pass Hamilton," said the Finn.
"Qualifying did not help. Clearly on some tracks we suffer a lot in qualifying and we have to understand why. In the coming races the situation should definitely be better, starting in Istanbul."
The Formula One roadshow heads to Turkey in three weeks' time where, like his teammate, Massa will be hoping to put last weekend firmly behind him with a winning performance.
"It's been a weekend to forget, but I have not lost confidence," insisted the chirpy Brazilian.
"We know we have a good car and we must return to winning as soon as possible, starting in Turkey. We must not give up."
Source AFP
