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Ferrari: Still not impossible for us to reach our targets
Ferrari Team Principal, Stefano Domenicali has said the Scuderia can still reach its targets this season - despite a disappointing Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday at Spa-Francorchamps, which saw the Maranello-based squad concede yet more ground to its main rivals with just six races remaining.
The Scuderia will go into its home race at Monza in two weeks time third in the constructors’ championship, with 250 points on the board - 80 less than the leaders, Red Bull Racing. The situation in the drivers’ championship is also pretty bleak, with Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa down in fifth and sixth respectively, the former 41 points off Lewis Hamilton, the current leader.
Ferrari also has that World Motor Sport Council hearing coming up just days before the Italian Grand Prix and currently it is uncertain if the team will face further sanctions following its use of illegal team orders in Germany.
"This weekend definitely did not end well for us, even if Felipe's fourth place, at the end of an impeccable and error free race in conditions that were far from easy, is an important result,” Domenicali said. “Fernando saw his race compromised right from the first lap, the unwitting victim of an accident and then, despite fighting his way up the order, he ended up off the track in the sort of incident that can easily happen in a rain-affected race.
“Apart from that, and any other considerations, we must recognise that our performance in this Grand Prix did not match our expectations and interrupted a positive trend that began a few races ago: we have to understand why immediately and take the necessary countermeasures.
“The situation in both championships is certainly more difficult, but it is still not impossible for us to reach our targets: for those with short memories, I remember that three years ago, we found ourselves in a much worse situation and we all know how it went in the end."
Ferrari Chief Track Engineer, Chris Dyer meanwhile isn’t quite so positive and he admitted the team now has ‘much work to do’.
"Felipe had a good race, always keeping out of trouble and he made the right choices, bringing home a good result, given our performance level in this Grand Prix, which definitely did not live up to our expectations,” Dyer continued.
“However, on the other side of the garage, the mood is one of great disappointment, because the lack of points seriously complicates Fernando's chances in the title fight. His race was immediately an uphill struggle, because of the collision with Barrichello, which meant he had to pit immediately. At that point we took the gamble of fitting intermediate tyres, given that we had nothing to lose, but then we had to bring him in again for dry tyres. It was a good climb up the order, but in the end he went off the track in the wet which ended any last chance of scoring points.
“Clearly there is much work to do in order to tackle the remaining six races of the season in the best way possible."
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