Anomaly excuse means Ferrari have nowhere to hide in Bahrain

Former Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali is one that believes that in Bahrain, next weekend, the Reds will find their absent pace and the balance of power will be restored.

But the truth is the 'anomaly' excuse is the one flung out by the Albert Park losers to explain how Mercedes were seven tenths faster than their closest rivals on Sunday, while at the end of the race Ferrari were 57 seconds adrift of winner Valtteri Bottas

Not even a podium for the Reds whose drivers Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc finished the opening race in fourth and fifth respectively.

The boys in Silver, always eager to perpetuate the myth of their phantom struggles are no doubt content that the 'anomaly' theory is being purveyed as fact

The reality is that when the dust flies in the Manama desert next weekend, there is nowhere to hide for Ferrari whose chief Mattia Binotto claims what we saw in Melbourne was not the real deal.

Backing him up when reflecting on the race, Domenicali told Speedweek, "That was a difficult weekend. Ferrari were unable to show the normal level of performance and thus did not do their role as favourites any justice, but let us not forget that Melbourne often has its own quirks.

"That's why Bahrain is the more reliable gauge for me. In Australia, the car was too slow, whether it was the tires or the chassis or the engine, I don't know. If I look at the speed and the lap times, then it is clear - something was not normal.

"But we should not overreact now. What's really going on, we will know in Bahrain," added the man who joined Ferrari in 1991, before taking over from Jean Todt team chief at Maranello in 2007.

While Domenicali is calling for no panic, the defeat Down Under has not gone down well in Italy, the tifosi no doubt waiting for the duel in the desert with great anticipation.

On the other side of the coin, Ferrari insider, a tifosi as well as noted Italian F1 'poet' and author of Profondo Rosso column - Leo Turrini - is not buying the 'anomaly' excuse.

He started by writing after the Melbourne massacre: "I believe my love for the Cavallino is well known. It is a feeling that has always accompanied me and will always accompany me."

"The performance (so to speak) of in Melbourne was objectively indefensible and all the more reason why unexpected. Due to an old propensity for caution, I had not taken to the preseason testing hype. Fan yes, naive no."

"But the gap is an ocean, between the lie of the 'half-second advantage per lap' before the race and the huge difference at the end Australian Grand Prix!"

"Therefore, precisely because of its brutal obscenity, I do not consider Albert Park verdict credible. There must be something abnormal, a horse does not become a donkey in a few days."

Turrini is not buying the Melbourne 'anomaly' theory, "I do not believe in the surprise result of an atypical race track. F1 has been racing in Melbourne since 1996."

"On asphalt, wind and blah, blah the teams have all kinds of information. The circuit has nothing to do with it. It's okay to evoke it as an excuse because there are things that Binotto can't say in public, it would do the competition a favour.

The columnist then goes on to argue that the team may have taken the wrong design philosophy with the new car, but remains confident, "I have a lot of faith in the team. Binotto was technical director of the Reds in 2017 and 2018, when competitive cars were produced at Maranello."

"In Bahrain, on a track that is not atypical, all doubt will be removed. In the desert dunes, a Ferrari Duna version, the worst Fiat of the last century, would push us to depression. A Ferrari that is Ferrari, is the least we can hope for," added Turrini.