Ferrari believes it has solved the engine problems which plagued it at last weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix and plans no engine switch for the next Formula 1 race, in Australia on April 2.
This weekend Ferrari was forced to change three engines, twice on Felipe Massa's car and once on Michael Schumacher's, and this resulted in both being pushed back ten places on the starting grid, with the German in 14th place and the Brazilian starting from the pits after the second change.
The race ended with Massa finishing 5th and Schumacher 6th.
Renault's Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella won Sunday's race, after grabbing pole position, and his world champion teammate Fernando Alonso of Spain, who won the season opener in Bahrain, was second.
Speaking after Sunday's race, Ferrari team director Jean Todt said the problems with the engine had been for the most part resolved and should not reoccur. "The problem was in the piston area, a specific failure in that component. However, sometimes the final problem is the result of a combination of factors. So before saying anything definitive, we need to have some very precise answers," Todt explained.
Looking back at Sunday's race, Todt said "it's certainly nothing to be happy about, but it was the best result we could expect".
"Nevertheless, the whole package was quite good, even if I think we need to be a little more competitive. Bridgestone has made progress with the tires and it's interesting to see how they perform on other teams' cars," he added. In contrast to previous years, Todt on Sunday did not order newcomer Massa to let Schumacher by him despite the fact that the seven-time world champion was ahead in the drivers' standings and the senior driver.
"It's still too early in the season for that. Felipe was on a different, one-stop strategy and with the traffic Michael encountered he could not exploit the advantage of having two pit stops," Todt explained.
"I was very happy for Felipe. He's under a lot of pressure and so it's important for him to score points and demonstrate how good a driver he is," the Ferrari director added. Todt said he was not surprised by Renault also winning the second race of the season. "They were good last year so it follows that they are again this year. They're the same people".
Renault last year broke Ferrari's winning streak after six straight championships, while Alonso kept Schumacher from winning an unprecedented eighth title, which would have been six in a row.
