Ferrari team
principal Stefano Domenicali fended questions on three
hot topics in the wake of last weekend's European Grand Prix in Spain.
The two pit stops incidents were the burning questions,
with Domenicali quick to point out that the mechanic
injured when Kimi Raikkonen left the pit prematurely had
only suffered a fracture of a toe.
"He's very happy that we won," said Domenicali. "As an
example of the team atmosphere, he said to me 'I'm very
sorry, I'm very sorry' and it was not his fault. It just
shows how Ferrari people are, the passion that they
have, the way they behave and the professionalism that
they put in every day. We need to be very proud of the
guys who work in this team."
Domenicali explained how the team no longer uses a
lollypop, but a system of lights in a pod directly in
front of the driver. "The system works in the following
way. When the fuel nozzle is connected to the car, you
see that there is a red light on. At a certain moment,
you see that there is a flashing light that is close to
the red light, telling the driver that he has to be
ready. Then, as soon as the nozzle comes off, the light
becomes green unless the guy that is controlling the pit
stop position overrides it manually, because there is a
car in the fast lane coming through, so he has to delay
the car. That is how the system works. We've used it
since last year."
Was it too complicated, Domenicali was asked? "I don't
think so, to be honest. When there is a red flight, it's
a red light, it's like the lollypop is down. I don't
think that we need to go towards that depth. Of course
we need to make sure that the system is always working,
that is something that we have to make sure, but this is
another story." Domenicali explained that the light was
red when Raikkonen attempted to rejoin.
That fact that teams no longer have a T-car to do pit
stop training on Saturday morning was not an issue,
explained Domenicali. "We are doing pit stop practice at
home, trying to do more simulation or some rehearsals at
home, but the fact that we can't do it at a race I don't
think is a problem."
Domenicali said that the team would respect the fine
levied on the team for the unsafe release of future
winner Massa from the pits. "We've received a fine for
the team and not for the driver. To be honest, we didn't
consider that as an unsafe move. As you could see, there
was no obstruction, there was no braking. Felipe was on
the right hand side, he stopped and the Force India let
him through but that was the view of the FIA and we have
to respect it."
Finally, there was Raikkonen's spectacular engine
failure. "Unfortunately, like the last time in Hungary
for Felipe, there was no indication at all: we saw the
smoke on the main straight once again. And we are now
disassembling the engine to understand what is the real
problem, so I cannot give you an answer straight away as
to what the problem was because the guys are still
working on the engine. But there was no warning at all."
Finally, Domenicali said that the team would support
Raikkonen during what is a difficult time. "Of course,
it's easy when things are going well. Everyone close to
you puts their arms on your shoulders to say you are
number one, number one, number one, But then suddenly
when you have a difficult situation, then they say, ha
ha, this is already finished.
"That's not the case with Kimi. He's the World Champion,
we are a team, and of course we will support everyone in
the team, and above all, of course Kimi, because we
trust him 100 percent. It's in the difficult moments
that the team has to stay together. We don't have any
doubt at all about Kimi's performance and I'm pretty
sure he will come back between here and the end in
Brazil."
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