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Ferrari downplay talks of dominance

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has played down suggestions that his Ferrari team are dominating the season despite four consecutive victories

Felipe Massa scored his third successive win in the Turkish Grand Prix to move Ferrari 19 points clear of BMW Sauber in the standings after the first five races of the season.

The Italian squad have also scored two one-two finishes and Kimi Raikkonen and Massa are currently first and second in the standings.

But Domenicali says their victories have been too tight to think Ferrari are currently the dominant force.

"Well, I don't think it's correct to say that we are dominating because if you look at the championship, the situation is very close," Domenicali told reporters after the race in Istanbul.

"It was important for us to react after the first Grand Prix in Australia, with only one point scored at the end, but once again, it's not dominating. Today's race shows that our competitors are very very close."

Domenicali admitted the team are already working hard on planning the upcoming Monaco and Canadian Grands Prix, where the Italian squad had a tough time last year.

The team boss reckons not only McLaren, but also Renault and BMW, will poise a tough challenge in Monte Carlo.

"I think the next two races, Monte Carlo and also Canada we need to react because last year was very difficult for us," he said.

"We have prepared the race with a different approach. We will also see next week in Paul Ricard where we have some tests to see if what we have prepared is going in the right way.

"I think that not only McLaren will be strong, I am expecting Renault, BMW of course to be strong again, above all on the track where qualifying can be different, you can be aggressive but then even if you are longer at that circuit, everything will be different, so I think Monte Carlo will be a very important race for everyone."

After his win on Sunday, Massa trails Raikkonen by only seven points despite a shaky start the season.

Domenicali made it clear, however, that Ferrari are not planning to back just one driver yet.

"At the moment, as we always said, our strategy is to keep them free, because they have to race with no tactics in that respect," he added. "The most important thing is the team's interests and this is the key point for us.

"At the moment there are no changes in our procedure but we will see later on during the season."

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