The mood is sombre as Jean Todt walks in for the usual post-race press briefing. Although Ferrari had expected little, the Italian team hadn't expected it to be this bad.

In previous briefings, following equally tough races, team boss Jean Todt, had insisted that there was still something to fight for, some light at the end of the championship tunnel, is that still the case, or has Maranello given up on 2005?

"No," he says, emphatically, "we are still doing some adaptation for the circuits, and we will do everything we can.

"Working in 2005 should help us for 2006 as well," he adds, "mainly developing the tyres is crucial, so everything we do now is good learning, I hope, for 2006."

In Hungary there was light at the end of the tunnel, however it appears to have diminished just a couple of weeks later.

"Definitely, there was no light," says the Frenchman. "It was very dark.

"Yes, we saw some light," he continues, "but we knew that we had a completely different specification of tyres here. We knew that in all fairness, arriving at a new circuit, you can always have one unexpected surprise, but on Friday morning, we understood that the surprise was not the right one we could have expected."

After Hungary, Ferrari tested tyres specifically for this race; surely the Italian team was hopeful that it would be closer to a solution?

"You know, we do so much work but at the moment, but we face a problem," he replies, his shoulders clearly sagging beneath the burden. "We know the problem and we must accept it and we simply need to work as much as we can to solve it."

"What is that problem/" asks one of the other journalists present.

"Did you watch the Grand Prix today?" snaps Todt. "We lack grip."

Asked whether it is down to the aero package, mechanical or rubber, he replies: "I would say it's a combination.

"I'm sorry to repeat myself," he continues, "but we are the only top team with Bridgestone, so if we would be with the same tyres with another very top team it would be easier to answer, but at the moment we don't know. We sometimes try to compare with Jordan and Minardi, but they don't use the same tyres. Having said that, some people are speculating that last year the difference was three seconds, this year it's only two, but we use different tyres."

How does the F2005 compare to previous cars?