Despite finishing third behind both Mercedes cars at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene says his team's race pace is strong.
Ferrari's lap times during Sunday's race suggests Sebastian Vettel would have won had it not been for a red flag on lap 18. Instead Ferrari appeared to lose the race on its tyre strategy in the second part of the race, while Mercedes made the right call to take a one-two finish.
Despite the disappointment, Arrivabene is looking forward to the next round in Bahrain where he is hoping his cars will be even more competitive.
"The pace in the race is very good and the car in the race is very good," the Ferrari team principal said. "This is what I have to say, but we don't have to give up and we need to continue to push because every race has its own story and you have to turn the page, look forward and think about the next one. You have to think not about what you have done today, but to think about doing even better for Bahrain."
Ferrari put itself in a position to win the Australian Grand Prix at the start after Vettel and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen led the field going in to the first corner.
"The start was super," Arrivabene added. "Both drivers started like two rockets and after that they were able to take an advantage and that was good for us. This is the reason why at certain points, with the gap and our strategy prediction, we were looking quite comfortable. But at the end of the story you have to look at the result of the race, not the prediction and you have to be realistic."