Ferrari can't fix problems overnight: Alonso

Shanghai: Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso says his team is not "stupid" enough to think they can fix their problems overnight. Ferrari are struggling and failed to build on Fernando Alonso's surprise win at the Malaysian Grand Prix last month, with the Spaniard placing ninth at the Chinese GP on Sunday and teammate Felipe Massa finishing down in 13th.

"There's no point denying we are disappointed," team principal Stefano Domenicali said. "We had the potential to get a better result than this, but we did not manage it."

One of Ferrari's biggest problems so far this year is a lack of pace in both qualifying and races — an issue that can't be addressed until after next week's Bahrain GP, Alonso said.

One of Ferrari\'s biggest problems so far this year is a lack of pace in both qualifying and races.

"Obviously, this does not leave me very optimistic for Bahrain, on a track where traction and speed are vital, exactly the areas where we are weakest," he said after the race in Shanghai on Sunday.

Earlier this week, Alonso said the team was working to improve the car's aerodynamics to improve its speed.

"Obviously we are not stupid," he said. "We know we are far behind and we need to work. One second is a big gap to recover. But the car has some big problems in terms of aerodynamics, which give us the optimism inside the team that we can recover. Maybe not one second, but a lot of time if we put a couple of things that are not working in the right place."

Massa is under pressure to justify his position in the team. In three races so far this year, he is yet to score a point.

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