Felipe Massa's return to form is a positive for Ferrari, says Fernando Alonso who also believes the Brazilian's struggles were never as bad as they appeared.

"It was very close the last three years," he claimed. "I know that for you it was not that close in terms of the results.

"Felipe had some bad luck, some incidents sometimes, some mechanical problems other times, but the last three years was much closer I think than it looked in the points at the end."

Massa himself attributes his rejuvenation to a fundamentally better car which has allowed him to feel more comfortable and confident.

"Last year it was so difficult to understand the car and I was struggling a lot," he said. "It took a little bit long to understand the car.

"When you try to do something you're not comfortable with you maybe cannot do the perfect lap.

"This year everything is more consistent," he added. "We understand the car a lot more so it is much easier to drive.

"It was really clear that I was not comfortable last year and the year before, so many things around the car, bad luck, around myself as well. So there were so many things that were not working in the proper direction. But now they are and I know how quick I can be. I've showed that many times in the past."

As if to emphasise his return to form the Brazilian has out-qualified Alonso for the last four Grands Prix straight, going back to the United States Grand Prix at the end of last season.

However rather being threatened by the improved form of his teammate Alonso appears to relish the challenge, believing it will drive himself and the team forward.

"This is only good news for the team and we will push each other to our own limits," said the Spaniard. "It's the best news for the team, because we need to have competition between the drivers in the team.

"We need to share information between the drivers in the team and now I think all the data that we have from free practice, from qualifying for everything is very useful to compare and to analyse to make ourselves better."