London: Ferrari gave Italians the bad news, on Sunday, with a warning that their new Formula One car was unlikely to be a winner, or even in the podium places, when the season starts in Australia in two weeks’ time.       

“In the hunt for the podium in Melbourne? At the moment I’d say no,” the Ferrari website quoted technical director Pat Fry as saying after the final pre-season test in Barcelona.

“We are disappointed with the performance level seen at these tests and I think we have a lot of work ahead of us,” added the Briton, who joined Ferrari from McLaren in 2010.       

Ferrari won just once last season, at Silverstone in Britain with Spain's double world champion Fernando Alonso, while Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel have won both championships for the last two years.