Ferrari glass half full but no improvement yet

Fernando Alonso kept up a positive outlook on Sunday despite some Italian newspapers describing Ferrari’s situation as a "crisis".

Melbourne qualifying confirmed the famous team’s winter woes, but Spaniard Alonso fared better in the race.

"After the way qualifying went, ending up with ten points behind the top two teams is good news," he is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The sports daily Marca described the attitude as Alonso "seeing the glass half-full".

"For the Ferrari fans I say ’wait a few races’," former F1 driver Jarno Trulli told Italy’s Rai Uno television.

"Alonso managed to do something good but Ferrari needs to react, immediately," the Italian, who was Alonso’s Renault teammate in 2004, added.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali, however, told Finnish MTV3 television that the F2012 will not be in better shape for ’a few races’ at least.

Alonso agreed that, with one week between Australia and Malaysia, "We will have almost exactly the same car" at the Sepang circuit this weekend.

Added Domenicali: "We know what needs to be improved, but it can’t be done overnight."

Former F1 driver Jaime Alguersuari remarked that the improvement in Alonso’s pace between Saturday and Sunday was significant.

"The opposite of Mercedes," he told AS newspaper. "I think Alonso once again showed his quality, although clearly they have much work ahead.

"A driver can only win with the best car, but what he can do is demonstrate his quality with a good or a bad car," he added.

It is on that final point that the pressure on Felipe Massa merely increased in Australia, as the Brazilian had a disastrously poor weekend from start to finish.

"We need to get behind him now as it’s clear he’s under pressure," Domenicali told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"When people find themselves under pressure you have to find a way to relieve that pressure so they are free to express themselves in the way they can.

"I’ve asked his engineers to work closely with him and analyse the data so they can offer their support," he added.