Ferrari says complaints are legitimate

The Maranello team is furious that title rival Lewis Hamilton effectively escaped unpunished, despite overtaking the safety car that had been called out following Mark Webber's crash.

With Fernando Alonso having claimed the FIA 'manipulated' the race by not giving Hamilton his drive-through soon enough, Domenicali claims that there are legitimate reasons as to why Ferrari is so upset.

"We need to be careful by avoiding to take a counter-constructive attitude and complaining just for the sake of it, because it's useless," said Domenicali.

"We need to be very calm at these times, but we can't pretend nothing has happened. However, I repeat, rationality must prevail over emotions, which are very strong."

Domenicali reiterated that the main problem was the delay in punishing Hamilton, which allowed him to build up enough of a cushion so he could take his drive-through penalty without losing any places.

"I think what needs to be done is evaluating the sanction by keeping in mind the time of the decision and the way the race is developing," he said. "These are important issues.

"Looking back during the post-race analysis, it's clear that you are advantaged by not following the rules because at the end of day you gained more points. This is not alright from the point of view of the principle of the sporting regulation, and we need to work on it.

"I think we need to believe in the principles: it worked this way today, let's hope it's different next time."

When asked whether he believed there was any bias towards Hamilton, Domenicali said: "I want to believe this is not the case."

Although Domenicali has moved to tone down some of Alonso's initial comments, Ferrari vice-president Piero Ferrari suggested that the European Grand Prix had been a 'false' event because of what happened.

"I am incredulous and bitter, not just for Ferrari, but for the sport as a whole, as this is not the sort of thing one expects from professionals," Ferrari said in a statement on his team's website.

"For a long time now, I have also followed races in championships in the United States, where the appearance of the safety car is a frequent occurrence, but I have never seen anything similar to what happened today at the Valencia circuit.

"If it raises some doubts over the actions that led to a false race, to me that would seem more than reasonable."