Ferrari's title hope was damaged as Felipe Massa will move ten places down the starting grid for Chinese Grand Prix due to an engine change following Friday's practice.

Massa's power trouble is a blow to Ferrari's constructors' championship challenge, with the Italian squad moving three points ahead of Renault at Monza with three races to go.

"There is little to say as this was not a good day for me," said Massa, who watched out the first session.

"I did not go out on track this morning and then in my second run this afternoon, I had a problem with the engine and had to come back to the pits, where our engineers realized the unit would have to be changed."

The Brazilian set the fourth fastest time, and the quickest of all race drivers, in the second practice session with Michael Schumacher less then a tenth of a second back.

However, the Ferrari's solid start was squandered since Massa will have to start Sunday's race at best from the eleventh places down the starting grid.

"It's a shame, as the car seemed to be well balanced right from the start and I had been able to do some good times," Massa said.

"Of course, dropping ten places on the grid will make my race much tougher but I believe I can still put on a good performance," he added.

Ross Brawn said they still had to look at the data and the engine itself to understand what happened.

"The day was spoilt by the problem with Felipe's engine, which will see him lose ten places on the grid. It is a real pity given our performance level is pretty good."

But he believed the overall situation seemed "quite positive."

Source: Xinhua