Ferrari has less than a week to determine why both its engines broke down during the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday and resolve the problem before next Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.
This was the first time since the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix that Ferrari lost both cars due to engine failure and the breakdowns took the Italian team by surprise.
''It was a surprise after all the tests we did over the winter. What we have to do now is understand what went wrong because once you understand the problem you can try to fix it,'' observed team boss Stefano Domenicali after his disastrous debut as the successor to Jean Todt.
''What's important is to understand the causes for this defeat and eliminate them. We need to keep our calm and tackle the problems at hand,'' Domenicali added.
The two Ferrari engines are expected to arrive here at Ferrari headquarters on Tuesday where they will be 'dissected' by experts. ''Fortunately we have the ability and the resources to respond to this challenge and in a week we may be able to forget this false start'' he observed.
While not blaming the single electronic control unit (ECU) outright, Domenicali said ''we have to understand the ECU in full and exploit it 100%''.
This year all cars in F1 are using the same ECU, which was developed by the the McLaren-Mercedes team of Sunday's Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton. Aside from the technical problems which plagued Ferrari's season opener, Domenicali said the team as a whole needed to improve its performance ''The whole team was not up to standard. Everyone must assume their own responsibilities, including the drivers,'' he said.
