• Malaysian Grand Prix

Ferrari rues disaster weekend

Ferrari did not live up to its potential in Sepang © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• Malaysian Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Fernando Alonso
• |
• Stefano Domenicali
• |
• Felipe Massa

• Teams:
• Ferrari

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has warned his team that its performance at the Malaysian Grand Prix was not worthy of a championship-winning outfit.

Ferrari took just six points from the Sepang weekend after Felipe Massa finished seventh and Fernando Alonso retired with engine and gearbox problems. Domenicali said the team's dismal weekend was rooted in a poor qualifying performance, when it missed out on the best track conditions due to an incorrect weather forecast.

"There's no way we can be happy with the outcome of this third race weekend of the season," he said. "We came to Malaysia with very different objectives and taking home a mere six points is a disappointment. Today's result is down to yesterday's qualifying: when you start that far back on the grid, it's difficult to do better. On top of that, we had a few reliability problems which should put us on our guard: if we want to aspire to the title we absolutely have to sort this out."

Ferrari still leads both drivers' and constructors' championships and Domenicali admitted he could not fault the performance of his drivers.

"Fernando drove an amazing race, given that right from the formation lap, he had a problem going through the gears," Domenicali said. "To drive under these conditions is impressive and he was able to stay in the fight for points right to the end. Felipe also drove a really great race, especially in the second part and heading the drivers' classification is a just reward for all he has done in this early part of the season.

"An initial assessment after three races? Positive, because we lead both championships and have shown we are competitive at the highest level. We know where we have to improve - performance and reliability - but we can count on an excellent package - car, drivers, team - all capable of being in the fight for both titles."

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