Following a relatively disappointing season opener, Kimi Raikkonen has called on Ferrari fans to keep calm.

Thought to be around half-a-second off the pace of the works Mercedes, Ferrari clearly struggled in Melbourne. Fernando Alonso - promoted to fourth in the wake of Daniel Ricciardo's disqualification said that this was the best the team could expect at present, whilst teammate Kimi Raikkonen was clearly struggling with his car all weekend.

Speaking on Monday, Technical Director James Allison admitted that there is much work to be done even to catch up to where Mercedes is now, leaving fans worldwide feeling more than a little despondent, concerned that they've heard all this before.

Raikkonen however, refuses to be down, claiming that things will improve and that the team and its fans must keep the faith.

"I think that at the start of a season like this one, with new tyres but more than that, completely new cars, the main aim has to be getting to the chequered flag," he said. "We did just that and I was finally able to run a full race distance in this car."

"I've been in this game for quite a while now," he continued, "and I can say this is definitely not the first time that I've gone through a difficult first race weekend. We identified some general problems which we have to tackle in Maranello and there are other aspects linked to the set-up on my car to do with the brake-by-wire system. Getting this device working correctly is definitely something that contributes to the general feeling from the car, because it has a great effect on corner entry. Having said that, the F14 T improved right through Friday and Saturday and not getting into Q3 was not down to the competitiveness of the car.

"First of all, we have to stay calm," he urged. "The team is united, we know what we have to do and how to go about finding more performance. We also know this development process will not happen overnight and so we must be patient and concentrate hard on our work without watching what the others are doing. I'm sure that, if we work in the correct way, then right from the next race in Malaysia, the results can definitely be better."

Chris Balfe

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by karel, 20/03/2014 6:42

"As a fan I must say , I was really dissapointed. And indeed I hear this story for severall years now, the truth is Ferrari is not up to their game for years, always running behind, always telling the fans they know what to do, but unfortunately every proves another ball game"

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2. Posted by GoodPublicity, 20/03/2014 0:52

" Kimi doesn't need to panic - he's being paid this year! "

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3. Posted by Jet Jockey, 19/03/2014 21:46

"He is right! It is after all only the first race of the championship and things can turn around pretty fast in F1.

However as much as I like Kimi I don't like Ferrari and couldn't care less for them as a team. If they finish way down I'd be very happy!

I’m hoping for Mercedes to win and it would be nice to see Williams and McLaren back in the top three too (but behind Mercedes).
"

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4. Posted by ape, 19/03/2014 17:23

"Here again we see the failure of Montezemolo . Kimi is taking the lead now."

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5. Posted by Natcheztoo, 19/03/2014 16:28

"Sounds like the yearly round of excuses we hear from Ferrari ultimately leading to the now- regular - failure to be competetive at the topo level.

I love Ferrari! Where are they?"

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Don't panic, urges Raikkonen

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