Team boss Stefano Domenicali insists tyre choice, safety cr call were right ones.

The inquest into Ferrari's disappointing result at Albert Park started almost as soon as the team had got both Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen's cars back to the garage, the pair having both succumbed to engine failure and managed a single, fortunate, point between them.

Technical problems aside, however, there were other matters that exercised the team's collective mind, with questions having been raised over some of the tactical decisions taken from pit-wall.

Asked why Ferrari had opted for the softer of the two Bridgestone tyre options at the start of the race, new team principal Stefano Domenicali explained that Raikkonen's poor grid slot, in particular, had played a part in the decision.

"If you look at the tyre degradation, I think it was the right choice," he insisted, "Of course, with traffic it is difficult to overtake, and we tried to have better grip at the start as it was important to try to overtake. I think it was the right choice."

Domenicali also defended the team's decision not to call Raikkonen into the pits when the safety car was out.

"That was a decision that, if you analyse, [you'll see] we couldn't gain any positions," he pointed out, "By doing it the other way around, we had a few more laps and we could try to overtake someone and try to increase the gap. For us, the safety car came out at the worst moment. The second one was perfect for others, but it was a disaster for us. That's the way it is."

Ferrari also admitted that it had been concerned about its one lap qualifying performance, and Domenicali conceded that this had played a part in the outcome of the race.

"Qualifying is a key factor because, starting behind, you lose so much," he said, albeit acknowledging that Raikkonen had been unable to show his true pace because of fuel pressure problems that ruled him out of Q2.

"We've seen Kimi staying behind Rubens for so many laps, and then, when he had a clear track, he was able to manage perfect times in terms of consistency and in terms of performance. It was good. I think this is the key point we need to understand. This is something we have always suffered. So we need to understand how we can improve that.

"That's why it's a shame because, once again, we showed that, with a few laps of clear track, we showed the potential and that the performance is there during the race. No doubt. We need to understand now in order to improve qualifying."