Fernando Alonso has issued a rallying call to his Ferrari team after ending a disappointing season with a fourth-place finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix, 35 seconds behind race winner Mark Webber.

The double world champion won only one race in 2011, the British Grand Prix, and finished the championship in fourth - 135 points off Sebastian Vettel's all-conquering Red Bull.

The result at Interlagos meant that Alonso slipped behind Webber in the driver standings.

And Alonso said the team must work hard if they are to challenge for race victories next season.

"This Grand Prix produced an accurate reflection of the season: we have almost always done our maximum, fighting for a podium finish in a car that was not as good as the top two," he said.

"In terms of team work we grew a lot in 2011 and we must absolutely make this the starting point for a very different 2012.

"I am proud of what the team was able to do. We need a car that is about five or six tenths quicker: achieving that won’t be a walk in the park, but I have every confidence in our engineers and in a team that dominated the last decade in Formula 1 and holds every possible record in this sport.

"Let us not forget that I managed to get on the podium 10 times and to score more points than last year. Losing out on third in the Drivers' Championship is definitely not a big problem: first place is the only one that really counts."

Alonso started the race in fifth but had a fine start, jumping Lewis Hamilton, and produced a stunning overtaking manoeuvre on the outside of Turn 6 to get past Jenson Button on the 11th lap.

However, he lost out to Button for third when the McLaren driver overtook him in the DRS zone with nine laps to go.

"Yet another race in which we did everything to perfection, from the start to the strategy and the work of the team," added Alonso.

"The final result is more down to the performance of the others than our own, because we could not have done more.

"Once again today, we got a very good start, putting a nice passing move on Button, but then, on the Medium tyres, we no longer had the speed to fend him off.

"I also had a problem with the DRS which would not activate: I was not fighting closely with other drivers, but it would certainly have helped me gain a few tenths while overtaking."

Alonso's team-mate Felipe Massa said his race strategy was adversely affected by a puncture on one of his soft tyres on Saturday.

The Brazilian was the only driver in the top six who did not pit three times as he finished fifth.

"The race was difficult," said Massa. “I had a puncture on one of my soft tyres on Saturday. Because of that I could not do three stops.

"The only way to do three stops was to use three sets of medium tyres which was not the case and so I was struggling a lot because of that.

"Putting the medium through that many laps was really difficult for us. That was one of the problems I had today.2

Massa has struggled in 2011 and the 30-year-old is now the first Ferrari driver to go through a full season without a podium finish since 1992.

And he said after the race that he wishes to forget this campaign as quickly as possible.

"That [statistic] is not positive but I am one of the Ferrari drivers who has most podiums as well.

"It's not that I never had a podium or never fight for the victories. I had 11 victories and many podiums so it's nothing for me.

"It's something that is negative for my season not for this situation.

"For the championship there's nothing to say. Just cancel 2011 and I hope everything that happened this year will not repeat for the future."

Earlier this week Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo stated that Massa must prove himself if he to earn himself an extension to his present contract, which expires at the end of 2012.

But Massa said the pressure from outside is nothing compared to what he places on himself.

"There is pressure from my side, I put a lot of pressure on my side," he insisted. "I care a lot more for my pressure than for the pressure from the others.

"You always have pressure in Formula 1, in Ferrari, in a big team. I just care more about my pressure and I need to do more."