Brazilian Felipe Massa said he could not resist Lewis Hamilton's charge to victory in Sunday's German Grand Prix — because his Ferrari was not fast enough to enable him to put up a fight.

The Latin American, who finished third behind a dazzling Hamilton and fellow-Brazilian Nelson Piquet in a Renault, said his car did not have the performance he needed to scrap for victory.

Hamilton's second win in succession lifted him four points clear of the rest in the drivers' world championship.

"I just did not have the pace," said Massa. "I looked at the speed of my car and I was on the hard tyres because the soft was so difficult to drive, and I just couldn't have the pace.

"Stability was difficult, too, for me, and I think I had a little bit of a problem on the brakes as well. I lost a lot of performance. So I didn't have the car to fight. I tried, but it was not possible today."

It seemed that Massa had a chance of winning when McLaren chose not to bring Hamilton in to the pits under the second Safety Car intervention period — a decision that left the 23-year-old Briton with an uphill struggle to win a race that he had dominated earlier.

Massa said that he had already resigned himself to being beaten by the McLaren after Hamilton easily pulled away in the first stint of the race.

"I expected a difficult race because the pace of Lewis in the beginning was so quick and by then I knew that they were much quicker than us on this track," said Massa.

"Looking at his pace in the race, I think I did a great qualifying because they had so much pace. In the race, the first stint he was half a second quicker and when it's like that you can do nothing."

Massa said he was happy to finish third as it kept him within four points of Hamilton.

"I think at the end of the day it was a good race because we finished third and we're only just past the middle of the season so the championship is open," he said.

"We need to work quite hard, for sure, but I know the team will work hard and we'll have a competitive car for the next races."

AFP