Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has called for calm following another point-less race for the Italian marque. The team are suffering their worst start to a world championship for 27 years and rumours are flying about what or who is to blame. But the phlegmatic boss is looking forward to a range of improvements to the F60 that will be premiered when the F1 circus comes to Europe.

“I think for sure we will see after Spain where we are. In that period we will see really what can be the situation, so when we come back to Europe basically,” said Domenicali.

“I think we have to wait. We need to stay cool. It is not easy, I know, but we need to stay cool because there are too many things that can change very quickly,” the Italian explained.

Observers are predicting that the dominance as a constructor the Prancing Horse has enjoyed in the modern era is coming to an end. After the departure or marginalisation of the dream team of Michael Schumacher, Jean Todt, Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne it was said that Ferrari would no longer be the force it was. Many in the paddock were surprised the team continued to be successful, but ascribed the success to the long-term programme put into place by the previous structure. Some of the aforementioned dream team continue to exert influence over management.

The prospects for Ferrari this season depend on the success of their technical revisions due in Barcelona. If the parts do not make a wholesale difference, it is thought that the squad will write off 2009 and concentrate on the development of their 2010 challenger. Where this would leave Kimi Raikkonen is an interesting question, as the Finn faces a make-or-break season to convince his critics he still has the appetite for the sport. His lacklustre race in China yesterday, in which he offered no more than token resistance to his competitors, will not have earned the Finn any credit.

By Hugh Podmore

Brawn GP can expect a close fight with Red Bull Racing throughout the season if Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix is anything to go by.

The Brackley-based outfit currently lead the championship following back-to-back wins in Australia and Malaysia, but the team conceded that they were no match for the Red Bull drivers in Shanghai today, after they dominated the race in the wet.

Despite running considerably more fuel than the Red Bull cars, neither Jenson Button or Rubens Barrichello had the pace to keep up with them as Sebastian Vettel crossed the finish line some forty seconds ahead of Button in third place.

“A very difficult race today and I am so pleased that we got both cars to the end of 56 laps and scored as many points as possible,” reflected Button. “The conditions were pretty crazy with rivers of water all over the circuit which changed every time you encountered them.”

“The last turn particularly was like a lake and you just couldn’t brake for the corner. I struggled with the car aquaplaning and the tyres shuddering as we couldn’t get the temperatures high enough to make them work properly.”

“Mark Webber and I had a good fight for a few laps but I just couldn’t stay with him. However to finish the race today is an achievement in itself and to be on the podium is fantastic. We couldn’t have beaten the Red Bulls and congratulations to Sebastian and Mark on a great result.”

With only half points awarded to Jenson Button at the abandoned Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang, Sebastian Vettel now sits just eleven points behind the Briton in the drivers championship.

Worringly for Brawn GP, Red Bull Racing have yet to attach a split-diffuser to their car which could yeild a significant advantage in laptime.

Team principal Ross Brawn alluded to a closely fought season with the Milton-Keynes based outfit, and hopes that their dominance in China will prove to be a one-off in the rain.

“Another dramatic race today to continue what is turning out to be a very exciting 2009 Formula One season,” he said. “Jenson and Rubens did an excellent job to bring the cars home in the difficult conditions which combined with a solid team performance over the whole weekend enabled us to score as many points as possible.”

“We had a good strategy with both drivers fuelled long for their first stints which allowed us to bridge the gap to the leaders.”

“However on similar fuel, Vettel and Webber were then able to pull away. Congratulations to Red Bull for their one-two performance today. We know from Australia what a fantastic feeling that achievement is and I’m sure they will enjoy every minute of it.”

By Chris Hayes

Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton somehow walked away from Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix with championship points to his name, despite treacherous conditions and several spins.

The British driver knows it could be several races before he can challenge at the front of the grid with McLaren playing catch-up to their rival teams.

But that didn’t stop him attacking the rain-hit Shanghai International Circuit with impunity has he bounced back from several off-track excursions to take sixth place.

The McLaren driver was aggressive from the start pulling off some impressive passes on Kimi Raikkonen and Jarno Trulli to get up to fifth.

“It was almost too difficult to drive at the beginning of the race,” he said. “But I found a good pace and had some fun in the opening laps, but unfortunately I destroyed my tyres quite early on.”

Then came a spin at the exit of Turn 10 which dropped him to tenth place. A resilient fight back saw him re-pass teammate Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli to run eighth.

After the second safety car period Hamilton was forced to re-pass Kimi Raikkonen again, this timing using the outside of Turn 7 to take fourth place. A second spin after his first pit stop dropped him to fifth place behind teamamte Heikki Kovalainen and a further mistake at Turn 16 dropped him to seventh.

“I made a few too many mistakes today,” said Hamilton, eventually taking sixth place at the chequered flag when Adrian Sutil crashed his Force India. “It was very slippery and my front-left tyre was finished long before the end but I still gave it my best. This afternoon was a real struggle but I’m glad I got some points for the team.”

Heikki Kovalainen in the sister McLaren enjoyed an altogether more consistent day battling his way through the field and benefiting from others mistakes to take fifth place.

“The visibility was unbelievably poor – especially during the first few laps after the Safety Car came in,” the Finn said. “But our pace was good and, during the last laps of the race, I could get close to Rubens – just not enough to start an attack. Our strategy was spot on: finishing higher than fifth was not possible today and I’m very pleased to have scored four solid points without making a single mistake – despite some massive moments!”

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh concedes that the team still have a lot of work to do catch the Brawn GP and Red Bull drivers.

“We were never going to be able to live with the Red Bulls or the Brawns today, which is why we chose a one-stop strategy,” he said. “The track was wet throughout the race, and the longer stints that our strategy dictated inevitably caused more wet-tyre wear than that experienced by the two-stoppers; but, despite the challenges posed by that extra wet-tyre wear, our drivers both coped very well.”

So, overall, an encouraging result: getting two cars into the points shows that we’re making good progress, but there’s more to come and we’re working flat-out to develop the improvements that will deliver it.”

By Chris Hayes on Sunday, April 19, 2009