SEPANG (AFP) — Ferrari have come bouncing back to set the stage for a season-long duel with McLaren for Formula One dominance -- but insist they are taking nothing for granted after winning in Malaysia.
The Italian team, which won Sunday's Grand Prix with a dominant performance by defending drivers world champion Kimi Raikkonen, rebounded from a woeful first outing in Australia, where both of their cars failed to finish.
"We wanted to show the reaction of Ferrari. So I'm very happy because we showed that the team can do a great job," said team principal Stefano Domenicali.
"I think the sense of relief is connected to the fact that we really showed what is our potential. We were strong all weekend, very good pace on both tyre specs. And that is, for us, the main thing," he said.
Raikkonen's classy drive was the Finn's second career win at the Sepang circuit, and helped the team get past the debacle at Melbourne, their worst season start in 16 years.
But Domenicali was quick to add that Ferrari were not taking anything away from McLaren, who opened the season with a victory in Australia behind second-season British phenomenon Lewis Hamilton.
"After Australia, when everyone said McLaren are in another world, we said: 'OK, they had a great race,'" Domenicali said.
"For sure, they didn't have a great weekend in terms of performance (in Malaysia) but they will be very strong in Bahrain," he said.
Ferrari had started Sunday with visions of a one-two finish, with Felipe Massa on pole position and Raikkonen beside him -- but the Brazilian spun out on lap 31.
The team said Massa hit a kerb and stalled momentarily, leading him to lose the rear end, though to most observers it looked like a driver's error.
Meanwhile McLaren limited the damage with solid work by Heikki Kovalainen, who took third, and Hamilton, who finished fifth.
The pair had been penalised five places on the grid for allegedly blocking rival drivers during qualifying, following complaints from Renault and the improving BMW Sauber team.
"If this is our worst weekend of the year, then we will take it," McLaren boss Ron Dennis said. "Leading both championships at this point in the season is not a bad place to be in."
Hamilton sits atop the driver standings on 14 points, three ahead of Raikkonen and BMW's Nick Heidfeld. In the constructors championship, McLaren lead with 24 ahead of BMW on 19. Ferrari are third with 11.
With Bahrain coming up next on April 6, Dennis said his team would not get the true measure of their car until Barcelona on April 27.
"We don't really know what our pace is at the moment," he said. "Australia, Malaysia and Bahrain are very different circuits and do not reflect the true pace of the car. Barcelona will be where it is going to be seen."
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