Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has said that former world champion Fernando Alonso could have easily won the Bahrain Grand Prix had it not been for the DRS system failure during the race. Alonso was one of the fastest drivers during the weekend, as he completely dominated the practice sessions and qualifying. However, he was unable to take advantage of the quick pace, as he could only get four points from the race due to a failure of the DRS system during the race. The DRS system was struck open during the initial laps of the race, which cost the Spaniard dearly.

As a result, he could finish only in the eighth position. Domenicali, though, was in full praise of the Spaniard by saying that many other drivers would have struggled to deal with such a huge disadvantage over the course of the race. However, Alonso limited the damage to a minimal extent and was able to finish in the points scoring positions. Alonso made two stops early in the race in order to correct the problem, but the team was unable to do so in a short span of time. Meanwhile, current world champion Sebastian Vettel managed to increase his grip on the title race by winning the Bahrain Grand Prix.

“We know that when you have this kind of situation you are managing tyres the best way that you can, we saw that at last race on our side. Honestly I think that for sure for Fernando we could have done very good race. I don’t want to say we were able to win because it’s easy to say that in words but theoretically I think it was possible. If you at least look at lap times with no DRS you clearly understand that it was possible,” said Domenicali.

The Spaniard Fernando Alonso has not had the best of starts to the 2013 F1 season. Even though he finished the season opener – the Australian Grand Prix – in the second position, the 31-year-old managed to crash out at the Malaysian Grand Prix during the weekend. This result coupled with the victory for Sebastian Vettel meant that one of his main challengers in the F1 world championship title has already taken a lead after just two races. However, Alonso has said that he remains extremely positive that the team will be able to lift both titles at the end of the season.

This is also the opinion of the Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali, who has said that the team are expecting more improvements in the car in the next few races. Alonso faces a fight from his own teammate Massa after the Brazilian finished in fifth position at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Alonso crashed out of the race during the weekend in the second lap itself. Domenicali has said that Alonso is aware that there are several races remaining in the season, and his competitors will also have their fair share of bad luck over the course of the campaign. Alonso did not manage to snatch the title from Vettel on the last race of last season.

“Of course he’s not happy to come away with zero points, but he’s positive and looking forward because he knows we have something to play with. The championship is very long. It’s important we stay cool and deliver our best. In terms of development, as everyone will do, we try to develop the car and this is the target for every race,” said the Ferrari team principal. The teams have a few weeks break before the racing resumes at the Chinese Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso has said that he is extremely confident that the team will be able to get a good start to the season. Alonso said after the end of last season that the poor start to the season was the reason that he was not able to win the world championship title. Alonso finished in second place just a few points below the Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel. It was a commendable achievement given that Ferrari had a very poor start to the season, but they improved extremely well in the middle of the season. The Italian team also had a strong finish to the season as well.

The 31-year-old has been testing extremely hard with Ferrari in the first three days of pre-season. He completed more than 100 laps in the first day of testing. He posted the third fastest time on the day, as he was beaten only by the likes of Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Rosberg. His teammate Felipe Massa has been testing with the new car for the last few days. Alonso has said that he is extremely positive about the new car, which he claims to be miles better than the previous season’s car. Ferrari have not put a lot of effort into developing the engine.

“We will be strong in Australia, and that is where we need to be. We need to improve on what we did last year because obviously it was not enough. We finished second and we want to finish first. To improve on the first part of the year is not going to be too difficult, so we are relatively confident. I fought for the championship last year with a car that was two seconds off the pace in the winter,” said the Spaniard, who has two world championship titles to his name.