Felipe Massa has warned that the Italian Grand Prix will be an important one for Ferrari to ensure the team remains in the chase for the championship.
Despite being competitive in practice, the Belgian Grand Prix proved disappointing for Ferraro as the Italian giants lost ground on its championship rivals after Fernando Alonso crashed out in the rain at Spa-Francorchamps.
The Italian Grand Prix is Ferrari's home race and a big performance will be expected in front of its fans and Massa believes a poor result would signal the end of its title challenge.
"That will be a great event, racing in front of our tifosi, but the reality is that it will be a very important race, because after the less than satisfactory performance in Belgium, the championship is not looking so easy for us," he said.
"We need to keep pushing for the last six races, trying to be back in the fight for wins or at least as many podiums as possible. For sure it won't be easy."
While relatively pleased with a fourth place finish, Massa was left frustrated at the lack of competitiveness his car proved around the Belgian circuit.
"Looking back a couple of days to the Belgian Grand Prix, I started sixth and finished fourth, so at a certain level, I could say that I had a good race. However, in terms of the result and in terms of the championship and the points total for Ferrari, it was not enough.
"Given the difficult conditions, with the weather changing several times during the race, this was a positive performance in difficult conditions. However it was not what I expected, or what the team had hoped for, given the fact that in Spa, the car was not as competitive as it had been in the two previous races in Hungary and Germany.
"This was probably another example of how, this year, the situation in terms of which teams are competitive, has been governed by the nature of the track."