Work to do declares Domenicali

The message from Maranello one day after the first pre-season test is very clear - staying realistic and concentrating on the work. After a disappointing 2009 season where Ferrari finished fourth in the championship behind Brawn, Red Bull and McLaren, the team hit the testing trail this week in Valencia and topped the timesheets on each of the three days of running.

While the early indications are good, the team are taking nothing for granted as they prepare the F10 for its second major test next week.

"We know very well that the lap times, especially this year, have to be handled with care," team principal Stefano Domenicali told the official Ferrari website. "We can’t forget where we were in terms of performance at the last Grand Prix last year.

“There is still a lot of work to do to close the gap and there are still many problems we have to solve. We don’t know the fuel loads the other cars had on board, so it’s impossible to get a clear idea of the relative strengths on the track.”

The team reiterated that the first tests of a new challenger are focused on understanding the new car, rather than pushing for ultimate lap times. Domenicali was happy with the reliability of the new challenger while the team adapted to the new regulations.

"If there is one thing we’re really satisfied with then it’s the reliability the car has shown," Domenicali continued. "In Valencia we also started to get to know the new (narrower front) tyres behaviour related to the fuel load. But the data is still absolutely relative - this track is not particularly demanding on the tyres and the temperatures weren’t the ones we’ll have for example during the season’s first three races."

The Italian went on to explain that both Felipe Massa and new recruit Fernando Alonso were happy with the tests but both are aware that the team still have a lot of work to do and have already targeted certain areas for improvements.

"There are no miracles in Formula One,” he said. “If you want to be fast you have to work hard for months and months and then you’ll meet your competitors, who have as much capacities and are as motivated as you. We can’t take anything for granted and we shouldn’t delude ourselves by indications, which could be completely misleading."