Just three races into yet another promising season for Ferrari, the Italian press has declared that the great Maranello team is once again in crisis.

In China, most had expected Ferrari to bounce back after Charles Leclerc's near-win of Bahrain.

Instead, the team is now fending off a team orders controversy and claims the 2019 car is fundamentally flawed.

"Ferrari's aerodynamics do not work," 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg is quoted by Corriere della Sera.

"There's a lot of work for them now but they need time, there is no quick solution."

Corriere della Sera said Ferrari appeared "slow, confused and chaotic" in Shanghai.

"All of Ferrari's problems came to light on a complex track like China, and internal problems between the drivers threaten to break out completely."

La Gazzetta dello Sport says Ferrari's winter test promise "has disappeared, sunk by controversial decisions such as the one giving preference to Vettel".

Tuttosport also railed against Sebastian Vettel, saying the German's "performances are well below Maranello's expectations".

"It cannot go on like this," the sports newspaper added.

And La Repubblica said teammate Charles Leclerc is "increasingly becoming a leader, even if he is sacrificed by the team".

Vettel does at least have his defenders, such as Formula E championship leader Jerome d'Ambrosio who told tuttomotoriweb.com: "It's easy to question a driver's quality when you watch TV on the couch".

Vettel, meanwhile, defended his red car, denying there is something fundamentally wrong with it.

"I have to answer that with no," he is quoted by Auto Bild.

"We have a strong car, but we are seeing a bit of a pattern. We can be very happy with our engine, it's just about getting the performance of the whole package right."