Bahrain GP: Ferrari will 'not cry' over Fernando Alonso's problems

Ferrari say they will "not cry" over the problems that have led to Fernando Alonso slipping 30 points off the championship lead after four races.

Alonso lost a probable podium in Bahrain on Sunday, finishing eighth after his DRS overtaking aid failed and he retired from the Malaysian GP.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali said: "We have less points than we should have given the performance of the car.

"But stay focused, the championship is long, there is no point in crying."

Alonso is fourth in the championship, which is led by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel after the German took his second win in three races in Bahrain on Sunday.

Vettel, champion for the last three years, is 10 points ahead of Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton is third, 17 points behind Raikkonen and three ahead of Alonso.

The Spaniard was second in the season-opener in Australia but crashed out of the Malaysian race after breaking his front wing on the back of Vettel's car. He won in China a week ago.

Domenicali said: "We could have been always on the podium, maybe had another win in the four races we have done.

"But that is the situation, so heads up, look ahead. I 'm sure the positive will come back and the negative we had today on our side maybe will affect the others soon."

Asked if he was worried about the points gap, Domenicali said: "Thirty points, [but] if he has zero points next time and we win it will be five so only four races gone, it is plenty of time.

"Don't forget we had [an advantage of nearly] 50 points [over Vettel] last summer."

Alonso was running second in Bahrain when his DRS overtaking aid stuck open. The team called him into the pits and forced it down while they changed his tyres but it stuck open again on his first lap out of the pits and he had to come straight back in again.

That put him down to 19th place, from where he had to fight back up the field.

Domenicali said: "Sebastian did a very good race but he was alone, he was able to control the pace.

"We know that when you have this kind of situation you are managing the tyres in the best way you can and we see this at the last race on our side.

"Honestly, I think for Fernando today we could have done a very good race. I don't want to say we were able to win because it is easy to say that in words but theoretically it was possible.

"If you look at his lap time with no DRS, you clearly understand it was possible but at the end of the day it does not count so we need to make sure in the future we don't have this issue."

Alonso said: "The podium was the realistic target. Sebastian was too good for us."