Domenicali: No point in crying over not having the best car

After losing further ground to Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel at the Indian Grand Prix, Ferrari's lead driver Fernando Alonso is 13 points behind his rival with just three races remaining.

At the moment, Ferrari appears to have no response to Red Bull's charge, but Domenicali says there is reason to feel encouraged his team can make steps - especially because for the first time in a while all the updates that the team brought to a race worked.

"It is clear at the moment that Red Bull has a better car," he said. "But what can we say? We cannot cry. We need to work hard, full stop.

"By saying that they are stronger we don't have to change the approach we keep in house.

"I have said to my team, 'listen, in 1982 in the World Cup of football, our team [Italy] was not the strongest, but we won the title'.

"We have the luxury of having Fernando with us, who is the number one driver, so it is something we will do and fight up until the end."

Despite what appears to be an increasingly difficult championship situation, Alonso remains '100 per cent' convinced that he will still win the title.

When asked if he shared Alonso's optimism, Domenicali said: "I am always optimistic. In life it doesn't change to be negative, it doesn't give you points.

"If you have the right approach with the guys, we can maximise what we have. This is what I have told my people.

"When you are fighting you have to be brave to use the things you have in the best way you can.

"There are also the others who are fighting, and we have to respect them. But their life will not be easy until the end."

Domenicali has, however, refused to make any bold claims about Ferrari's potential for upgrades over the forthcoming races, as he says all that matters is what is delivered on track.

"If I say something it doesn't change what we can do," he said. "What I say to my people is try to do the best and we see if what we can do is enough to make sure we improve the car."