Massa looks to home advantage

Felipe Massa hoped home advantage would help him in the final round of his Formula One title fight with Lewis Hamilton in Brazil next month after falling further behind the Briton on Sunday.

The Ferrari driver finished a distant second behind Hamilton's McLaren in the Chinese Grand Prix and now trails the championship leader by seven points with only 10 remaining to be won in the season finale.

The 27-year-old Sao Paulo driver, who is chasing his first world title, said he had been well beaten by Hamilton and called on his team to provide him with a more competitive car for Interlagos.

Even then, the title will be out of his hands.

"For sure we are in a difficult position but we know many things can happen in one race," said Massa.

"We just need to keep our head up. It is not finished yet. We're still fighting for the drivers' championship... we're going to do everything we can to achieve our target."

Massa has been on pole in Brazil for the past two seasons, winning in 2006 and finishing second last year after allowing Raikkonen to go past and win.

"Always when you play at home you play better," he said.

"I've had a very good experience in Brazil in the last two years so hopefully I can repeat and have a great experience again."

Ferrari had won three of the four previous races at the Shanghai circuit before this year and had been expected to be strong again this year. Hamilton, however, was much quicker all weekend.