Stefano Domenicali says Ferrari knows that it cannot take its impressive performance in Bahrain for granted and must keep improving its F10 if it wants to stay ahead of its rivals.
The Maranello outfit fired a strong statement of intent to the rest of the field with a 1-2 finish at the season-opener, as its 2010 challenger looked quick over both one lap and the full race distance.
In the face of what is likely to be stiff competition from its three chief title rivals, and the fact the season stretches to a record 19 races, Ferrari team principal Domenicali admits it was key that the F10 proved competitive from the off – but stresses that it is only a strong foundation from which to build from.
“What is important to see is that the car we have seen this weekend is a good base to look ahead for the future because the season is very, very long and we have to stay with the feet on the ground because I’m expecting all the others to be very aggressive, very competitive,” he told reporters.
“But I think we have seen a good car, both in qualifying and also in racing conditions, that proved that, [although] the work that has to be done is a lot still, we are starting from a good base.”
Domenicali said that as well as striving to ensure the F10 attains bullet-proof reliability levels, he had also spotted some other areas where it could be improved – suggesting it could have been better through the new twisty middle section of corners at Sakhir.
“If I had to say something for sure, we need to make sure that reliability is 100% in all the parts and we don’t have to suffer anything that will slow down our pace,” he said when asked how the team could improve the car.
“But I think that as far as I saw on the split times, maybe the part of the track where you need to have more stability in the kind of corners as were here in the second sector.
“So maybe that’s the area that we need to improve our car. But it’s matter of developing the car race-by-race and that’s what we have to do.”
He added that the team would try to bring upgrades to the races as early as possible, rather than waiting to introduce a whole package of them at the same time.
“I think that what is clear is that the more we are able to anticipate the development, the more we are able to be faster,” he said.
“So I think we will see this week if we are able to bring some new parts already in Australia or not.”
Although both its cars made it to the finish in Bahrain, Felipe Massa was told to conserve his car from around half-distance as his engine began to overheat in the sweltering desert temperatures.
Domenicali acknowledges the team needs to improve the car’s cooling to ensure such a problem doesn't reoccur in similar conditions later in the season.
“The temperature of the engine is not a problem of the engine, it is a problem of the cooling of the car, a problem of the dynamic of the car, so I think on that we have to work to make sure we don’t anymore have this kind of issue for the next hot races,” he added.
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