Ferrari hopes to make up some lost ground in Bahrain

| Thu, 04/03/2008 - 03:21

After winning the last race in Malaysia with World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari hopes to make up some lost ground at this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.

Ferrari currently has only 11 points from two races and is third in the constructors' standings behind McLaren-Mercedes with 24 points and BMW with 19.

Ferrari's 11 points have all come from Raikkonen while his teammate Felipe Massa has failed to finish in both races so far.

Massa, who won in Bahrain last year while Raikkonen placed second, blew his motor in the season opener in Australia and spun out into the gravel in the last race.

However, Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali does not blame the Brazilian and said the fact he has zero points was the responsibility of the whole team.

''We all need to improve if we want to achieve the results we are aiming for,'' Jean Todt's successor said.

Massa has also received encouragement from Ferrari's former world champion driver Michael Schumacher who said on Wednesday that he saw no reason why Massa should not repeat last year's feat.

''I don't think that Massa can change his approach. In Malaysia he was clearly set on winning and he was also doing well in Australia. He had a splendid race in Bahrain last year and I don't see why he shouldn't be able to repeat himself,'' the seven-time world champion said.

Ferrari carried out extensive tests in Bahrain during the winter and Raikkonen said the Emirates track is one of his favorites and where he would like to win after two consecutive third places.

''We have always been very competitive on this track. But it's hard to find the best set-up on such a complicated speedway. However, the tests we carried out in February were very encouraging,'' the Finn said.

''I really like this track because it is so different from the others. When you drive down the track it feels like you're inside a sandbox,'' Raikkonen observed.

Ferrari's reigning champion is currently in second place in the drivers' standings at 11 points, three behind McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

Topic: