Maurizio Arrivabene has suggested that rumours predicting his demise were designed to destabilise Ferrari.

In Barcelona, following president Sergio Marchionne's insistence that the Maranello team immediately end its winning drought, rumours swirled that Ferrari was contemplating ousting Arrivabene.

Marchionne, however, rubbished those rumours when he appeared in the paddock ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, which was won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

"What exactly did Marchionne say?" Arrivabene enquired.

Told by a reporter that the Fiat and Ferrari president had expressed confidence in the leadership team, the Italian added: "There's your answer.

"I don't pay attention to all these rumours. Those who create them have one goal - to create a tense atmosphere in the team.

"Of course this is not helpful, but we have to keep concentrated on what we are doing, without being distracted by these rumours."

However, the pressure on Arrivabene did not ease on Sunday, as even after Mercedes's double-DNF, it was a Red Bull rather than a Ferrari that won the grand prix.

"Of course, congratulations to Red Bull and Max Verstappen," he said.

"But I see this not as a podium for us but a wasted opportunity," added Arrivabene, after Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel finished second and third.

"Our rivals Mercedes were out and we were not there to exploit it.

"So our problem now is to solve the mystery that in certain conditions of temperature our car does not properly exploit the soft tyres in qualifying. We think we might have understood the technical reason so in the next few days, during the test to be held here in Barcelona, we will try to find the solution."

Next up is the Monaco Grand Prix in two weeks' time.