Fernando Alonso says Bahrain F1 race could be Ferrari's nadir

Ferrari endured its most disappointing race of the 2014 season so far in last weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix, finishing ninth and 10th with Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, more than 30 seconds adrift of leading Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Alonso conceded it was "not good" that Ferrari has been fighting battles with Force India and Williams lower down the order in the early races, but said the characteristics of the Sakhir circuit had particularly exposed Ferrari's lack of straightline speed.

"This track is one of the worst," said Alonso, whose Ferrari team is 78 points behind Mercedes in the constructors' championship after just three rounds.

"We are missing some of the characteristics that this track has so in China I expect [we will be] more competitive, Barcelona, Monaco, there are some circuits coming that we need to get some podiums at, hopefully.

"It's not good. We would like to have extra speed and be able to battle with anyone but at the moment we miss on that aspect.

"But we have some strong points that some of the circuits will show.

"If at the next two GPs we are quicker than [Nico] Hulkenberg and Williams we can say 'you are missing some of the speed Ferrari has in the corners'."

Alonso urged the Scuderia to use this week's two-day test in Bahrain, in which he will do all the driving, to close the gap to the frontrunning cars.

"It depends circuit to circuit and we will improve in all areas - the chassis side and the aerodynamic efficiency, the power. There are many things," he added.

"We were missing a little bit of performance everywhere [in Bahrain] to be honest - especially the top speed. We were not in a strong position, but we did the maximum we could.

"The team were superb, but on performance we are not in a position that we want at the moment, so we just need to work."