Ferrari braced for 'crucial' moment

The Maranello-based team is currently in its peak form of the campaign, with Alonso having delivered a brilliant victory in the streets of Singapore following his success in Italy a fortnight ago.

But although Ferrari is refusing to get too carried away with its results - especially because the points' standings are still very close - Stefano Domenicali thinks it vital his outfit does not let it guard down just now.

"This is the crucial moment of the season," said Domenicali. "We need to stay very cool and look forward to arriving in Japan with the perfect package in terms of car, in terms of preparation of the drivers, and also for the team because if you make a mistake you pay a lot."

Alonso's pace over the Singapore weekend suggests that Ferrari has made a good step forward with its car in recent weeks - but Felipe Massa's gearbox gremlin that struck in qualifying has highlighted that there remain weaknesses in the team's overall package.

"For sure, it's important for us to work very hard on reliability because as a team we paid a big price this weekend," explained Domenicali about the efforts that need to go on now.

"The car seems to be better in terms of general performance, also on this kind of track.

"We will have some little updates, nothing major, but I think now a lot will be in the head of the drivers, in the head of the people who have to work, and in the reliability other than an incredible performance.

"We know that all the teams now are in a period where they have to switch to put all their resources in the new car otherwise they will be very late at the end, so I think it will be an interesting end to the season."

Domenicali believes that Ferrari's calm approach to the campaign - even when its title ambitions appeared to be derailing - must be maintained even though its fortunes have improved dramatically.

"I'm never down when things are bad, or I never declare it fantastic when things are going well," he continued. "What I know is that we need to be cool, feet on the ground and to work hard.

"We know when we've made some mistakes, when some others have been better than us, but that's part of the game, part of life.

"The most important thing is to have a clear focus in front of you, to try to never give up, and that's what we are doing."

And although refusing to say for certain that Ferrari can carry its strong form into the final four races, Domenicali is confident the team has what it takes to at least fight for the title until the end of the season now.

"Now with four races to go the situation is very open," he said. "I'm expecting in Japan for McLaren to return to being very strong, Red Bull is already strong so it will be difficult.

"I'm expecting Japan to be a track where we have to be even more defensive, then Korea, I don't know. We need to see the track because in a simulation you could decide to run with blown wings, but you go on the track it's the opposite.

"Then we have Brazil where we should be okay, then Abu Dhabi which is not really perfect for us, but we'll see what the situation is in the championship."

He added: "The championship situation is so complicated that we need to stay cool. But I believe we have everything to fight up until the last race. I have always said that, and I maintain that position."