After a flawless start to the season, a qualifying catastrophe meant that Ferrari were lucky to score in a race many expected them to win.

With the rain pouring during the very first session of qualifying, many drivers were already pounding round, putting in banker laps should the clouds continue to pour. Admittedly, weather forecasts showed that the rain was expected to stop, but since when has anyone ever trusted the words of a weatherman? The glory of Lotus and Virgin making it into Q2 was completely overshadowed by the fact it was Formula 1′s most illustrious team that cocked up to allow it to happen, with Massa and Alonso sent out in a Malaysian monsoon.

The season has so far provided many positives for Ferrari – great race speed with a car that’s kind on it’s tyres, a competitive driver line-up and a shedload of early points. However, from 19th and 21st on the grid, the real flaws in the operation started to show: the cars straight line speed just isn’t up there with that of the Mercedes powerplant, making recovery from poor qualifying sessions a much harder struggle. While Lewis Hamilton was rampaging through the field, the Ferrari’s only managed to gain positions by others jumping out of the way to change tyres. When you consider that Massa and Alonso were stuck behind Sebestian Buemi’s Toro Rosso, it’s much harder to think they could’ve strolled past the superior Sebastian Vettel in a superior Red Bull at the season opener in Bahrain, as Alonso claimed.

It also strikes me that Ferrari’s engineers are lacking any real imagination with strategies. Jenson Button took a win from nowhere after a brave call at Melbourne, and made up a position on Alonso with a bold early pitstop. However Ferrari seem content to just do what everyone else is doing, and hope that the cars can do the business out on the track. Gone are the days of out of the blue four stop strategies (such as Magny Cours in 04 when Schumacher jumped Fernando Alonso) – although obviously the days of refuelling have vanished too, but Ferrari are yet to make a brave decision in 2010. The qualifying catastrophe would be better described as moronic than brave, but each to their own.

Add to this a geniune lack of reliability, and the woes are adding up for the Scuderia. Alonso’s car struggled from the start with a faulty gearbox, before suffering a spectacular engine failure just after a failed pass on Jenson Button’s Mclaren. Pedro de la Rosa’s BMW Sauber-Ferrari (which must go down as the daftest team name in history) blew in less spectacular fashion as he drove to the grid, but helped confirm worries that the engine reacts as well to the heat as a sunbathing Brit whose forgotten to bring suntan. At least, that’s what the official report will read.

That said, there were some small positives to take from the race. Whilst Alonso tried to overtake Button with a broken car, (clearly sharing fellow Spaniard Cesc Fabregas’s recent love of head ruling heart, which in his case lead to a broken leg) his performance was outstanding – his car couldn’t change gear correctly yet he still managed to post the second fastest lap of the day. While Felipe Massa may have taken over the championship lead, it’s Alonso who has really stood out as the Ferrari leader after an interesting first three races.

While Red Bull faltered at the first two Grands Prix, the  points advantage has been completely wiped with their simple 1-2. Ferrari have to respond in China – their early lead in both championships will be completely forgotten if they keep this form up.

Join me and Victoria on Formula1FanCast.com’s Fantasy League Formula 1 2010. Our league is called Formula1Fancast.com and the league pin is 722. Try and beat us if you can, but be warned we’re good!

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