After two days in the F2012, Felipe Massa isn't convinced, claiming the car needs work.

While Ferrari insists that times are not important at this stage, the tifosi will be concerned that the Brazilian driver was ninth quickest on Tuesday and seventh on Wednesday. Today, Fernando Alonso gets his first run in the legendary Maranello outfit's 2012 contender, but for now Massa isn't entirely convinced the car is the step forward the team had been hoping for.

"Actually there is a lot of work," he told reporters after two days of running in which he completed 164 laps of the Jerez track. "It is a brand new car and it is not a type of car we had in the last years, even to start with. So it is a car that needs a lot more work, a car that you need a lot more things to try as well.

"Today I did so many laps, just trying such different things," he continued, "it was a programme in the direction to understand every single point from the car. I think it was so many things to do which it was not the case in the past on the first day even."

"Sometimes you don't see the result that you expect," he added. "Some other parts as well, you have a different direction. A new car is always like that. I think it is just the beginning of a big job to have a consistent and competitive car."

Widely accepted as one of the ugliest of the class of 2012, courtesy of the new rules, unlike the fans, Massa is spared the task of having to look at the F2012 and that nose.

"We don't see the front wing," he said, smiling. "We just look to the front so we can't see this new step which is very ugly to be honest."