Aerodynamics has big role in performance says Alonso

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Ferrari face another difficult weekend in China despite fixing a rear wing problem that slowed their car in Malaysia, Fernando Alonso said on Thursday.

Team principal Stefano Domenicali and other senior officials flew back to Maranello after last Sunday's race at Sepang to try and push development to a car that has been outperformed by Renault as well as champions Red Bull and McLaren.

Two times world champion Alonso said, however, that there would be no quick cure.

"We are not quick enough... we know we need to work to improve the car," he told reporters crammed into a narrow terrace at the back of the Ferrari hospitality at the Shanghai circuit.

"There are no secrets in Formula One, aerodynamics are still the main thing for performance. If we are some gap behind the leaders, it is because we need to improve aerodynamically mainly," the Spaniard added.

"We will try to do it as soon as possible. "Now is the time to score as many points as possible and when we have a competitive car we need to deliver the win. At the moment we need to be more realistic and honest with ourselves and think about maybe the podium as a main target.

"I expect again a difficult weekend," he continued. "But it's true that this is a different circuit... so hopefully this is a good one for us and we can be much closer to them in qualifying and especially in the race."

Alonso finished sixth in Malaysia after being penalised for a collision with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton while trying to overtake.While Ferrari are ahead of Renault in the standings, Alonso's former employers have had two podium finishes in two races while the Italian glamour team have yet to figure in the top three this season.

The Spaniard was also handicapped in Malaysia by a driver-activated moveable rear wing that failed to work but he said that issue at least had been resolved.

"In Malaysia, we had the problem from the middle of the race. We discovered the problem so everything should be okay for this race," he said. "It was a hydraulic connector, it should be okay, all fixed."