Alonso: Damage limitation for Ferrari

Fernando Alonso has said that the Bahrain Grand Prix will be a case of 'damage limitation' for Ferrari as he predicts a repeat of the struggles endured by the team in China. Alonso went into the Shanghai weekend as the championship leader but could only pick up two points for ninth place, which meant he dropped behind both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button in the title race. The Spaniard had admitted prior to the weekend that he expected a tough challenge for the Scuderia and he said his view was the same heading to Sakhir despite Ferrari's strong record in Bahrain in the past. “I am well aware that in Sakhir, we can expect another difficult weekend, which is only natural, partly because of the track characteristics and also because the car is the same one we had in Shanghai,” he said..” Both the Scuderia and I have a good record in Bahrain: the team has four victories here and I've got three, the last of which was also my debut race for the Prancing Horse. But the past counts for nothing in this sport and this weekend will be all about damage limitation for us.” The double champion again reiterated his faith that Ferrari will be able to turn things around, with the team working hard to find more pace from the F2012 to allow Alonso to fight near the front in all conditions. “The championship is very open and there are a lot of teams that can aspire to victory, but clearly we need to make a leap forward to be more competitive if we want to aspire to coming out on top at the end,” he said. “We have to take the step forward as soon as possible. I have faith in the team and I know everyone at Maranello is giving their all so that we can reach this objective.”