We need to fight BMW Sauber - Domenicali

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali admitted to being "very very disappointed" after his two drivers came away with just four points from the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on Sunday. Kimi Raikkonen was eliminated when he was hit from behind by Lewis Hamilton when stopped at the pit exit lights, and Felipe Massa salvaged fifth place in spite of an extra pit stop to refuel.

"Unfortunately traffic lights in Canada are not really our friends," said Domenicali. "Last year we had a problem, this year we've had a different kind of problem. It was also a shame for Felipe because he did a great race, and we had a problem with the refuelling system, a seal broke and no fuel was delivered so we had to call him straight back in and that spoiled a great race for him.

"So it's been a big disappointment because we have prepared for these two races in a great way. In spite of that, we took less points than last year. That was a disaster in terms of performance so we are very very disappointed."

He was, however, able to take some encouragement. "It is in these conditions when you really feel the need to react and be very strong because you see that we have all the elements that are ready for the fight. We know that our competitors are strong, no doubt, but the championship is long and we will see. We will fight until the end."

Hamilton was hit by a ten place penalty after his collision with Raikkonen, which Domenicali called "a fair decision. Honestly, I expected something. You cannot exclude him from points in the race because he didn't finish, so to be realistic, pragmatic, knowing the rules, yes, that's what I was expecting, so that will be part of the show in the next race."

The next few races are more conventional, so would this be more advantageous for Ferrari. "The near future for us is very clear," said Domenicali. "We need to go back to our standard in term of points. We need to work, be humble, we know that the others are pushing, BMW took a lot of points today, McLaren not too many, but they are strong, they will be there. We need to keep on working, no mistakes, reliability, we saw that we paid for a problem on the rig, and that's it, that's the way we have to tackle the next Grands Prix, not only France."

And Domenicali looks forward the next races with relish. "Absolutely. It's very disappointing to collect the points that we collected in the last two races given the way that we prepared for them so we are really looking forward to reacting in the right way and the spirit of the team, I can assure you, is the same."

Domenicali said that he expected a complicated championship this year, potentially three-way. "I said at the beginning of the season that I was expecting McLaren first and BMW second as our main competitors. Today was a really good race for them, no mistakes, easy, I would say because of the situation. They are there, they are strong. We need to fight them."

Finally, Domenicali underlined his enthusiasm for Canada, but admitted that work has to be done to ensure that there weren't further problems with the circuit. "It's great to be here in Canada, it's fantastic. You feel the people, you feel the atmosphere that is really fantastic. But we cannot race in conditions like these, it's not very good. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time that we've had this kind of problem and I think that they have to do something."