Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo (above with Fiat Vice-President John Elkann) has given the strongest hint yet that Michael Schumacher could leave Ferrari to make an F1 comeback for Mercedes-Benz.

A year that has been hectic, off the track as well as on, could not end without Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo’s evaluation of the current situation in Formula 1 and its prospects for the future. “A complicated year from a political point of view is coming to an end and we now clearly want to look to the future,” said the President, when he met journalists for the traditional end of year dinner. “The previous management of the FIA did a great deal of good, especially in such crucial areas as safety, but in most recent times, there were too many problems which led to serious consideration being given to Ferrari leaving Formula 1 – that was the feeling of our main board – and, along with the other teams in FOTA, there was a move towards establishing a different race series. I don’t want to go over those old arguments now. It is important that we were able to find common ground in order to renew the Concorde Agreement until 2012, on the basis of redefining the rules that have governed Formula 1 for so long.

"Now, in Jean Todt, we have a clever and competent person at the helm, who I am certain will know what to do to maintain constructive dialogue between the Federation, the commercial rights holder and the teams united under the FOTA umbrella. Indeed, it is this association, of which, until recently I was chairman, that played a key role in such a delicate situation, as it brought together all the teams in one organisation, as is the case in football and other professional sports. We are going through a transition phase and we have to work very carefully in drawing up this sport’s future. Formula 1 must return to being synonymous with cutting edge technology, without an imposed egalitarianism which risks turning it into something like Formula 3.

"Of course, one has to keep an eye on the costs, but we cannot go from one extreme to the other, as someone wanted to do this year. You only have to look at what happened with testing: in the space of three years, we went from being able to test wherever and whenever we liked, to being prevented from running the cars during the season. This resulted for example in a youngster like the Spaniard, Alguersuari, making his race weekend debut without having done even a single day’s real testing in a Formula 1 car. At the moment, we can accept this situation, but it cannot be like this in the future. This sport must set the trends rather than follow them. For this reason, I am unhappy that various companies have quit, which should be cause for thought for many. In order to build a new Formula 1, we must work together, involving all parties, including the media. There are so many topics up for discussion: the length of the races, the timetable, access to drivers, spectacle on the track, and the role of the Internet."

"I have faith in the team"

“2009 was bad, but I am confident that for next season, we can return to our winning ways,” Montezemolo is counting on the Scuderia’s desire to react and get over this year’s interruption to its usual form. “From 1997 up until now, we have nearly always been in the fight for the title, winning it many times, or losing out at the final race. The only two exceptions have been 2005 and this season just gone. There are reasons for the drop in performance, especially the grey areas in the regulations, which led to different interpretations and the way in which decisions relating to these were taken. Then, we also have to consider that, in 2008, we fought right to the bitter end, trying to win the title, just as a major rule change was on the horizon. Furthermore, especially at the start of the season, we made mistakes and there were problems with reliability which cost us dear.

"Then, we reacted. Domenicali worked on the team which, in the second part of the season, worked perfectly. The team also worked on the car, but unfortunately, there was no way to alter its basic design philosophy. We introduced the new diffuser, but that alone was not enough: it was like when we were young and tried to fit a radio to a car not designed to accommodate one. In fact, at the end of July, we decided in any case to cease development of the F60, in order to concentrate on the design of the new car. Unfortunately, just as we began to rack up a few good results, Felipe had his terrible accident. We were very concerned for him, first of all as a person and then in terms of his future as a driver. The rest is history. Thanks to Kimi, we managed at least one win, but then we became ever more uncompetitive, partly because so many others were still pushing hard on the development front. Neither Fisichella, nor the fearless Badoer managed to get a result with a difficult car and so we ended up fourth.”

Now, it is time to turn the page and get Ferrari back to its rightful place. “I repeat, I have a lot of faith in this team, which let us not forget, has won three titles in three years and lost a fourth in a manner that everyone remembers,” continued Montezemolo. “I recall there were many who said we would not know how to win after the Schumacher and Brawn era, but that was not the case. For 2010, we have a great driver pairing, the best for a team like ours.”

There are no major changes to the team structure, as confirmed by Team Principal, Stefano Domenicali. “We have consolidated certain changes made during the course of the season, such as Chris Dyer in the role of Head of Race Engineering and alongside him are young and up and coming people such as Diego Ioverno. The responsibility for aerodynamics has been handed to Marco De Luca, while Andrea Stella will be Alonso’s race engineer, a role he filled with Raikkonen. Contrary to what has been written, there is no influx of engineers following the Spaniard, because we have a highly rated group of people here, who have shown they know how to win. The most important change concerns the Engine and Electronics department, which since October has been run by Luca Marmorini, a very experienced engineer, who knows Ferrari well, having cut his teeth here before moving on to tackle another challenge.”

"Alonso, the right driver at the right time"

The biggest change for Ferrari in 2010 is definitely Fernando Alonso in the driver line-up alongside Felipe Massa. “We have been watching him since 2007 and Domenicali discussed it with me this summer,” recounted Montezemolo, addressing journalists at the Christmas dinner. “He is an extremely talented driver, quick and good at working with a team, while being totally focused on winning. I think he is coming to Ferrari at just the right time in his career. We had already reached an agreement for 2011, when both our drivers’ contracts would have expired. Then, we realised that our team needed a driver capable of really getting involved with the engineers, a characteristic that was not part of Kimi’s genetic make-up, even though he is an amazingly talented guy.

"Then came Felipe’s unexpected accident and, before taking a decision, we needed to know what his prospects were. Once we were certain he was fine, then in light of what was going on at Renault, we decided to try and bring Alonso on board a year ahead of schedule. Let’s make one thing clear, we were very happy with everything Kimi did for Ferrari during his time at Maranello: he won the world championship in his first year and played a vital part in our taking the Constructors’ title in his second year, while in this difficult season he at least managed to secure us one victory. However, we were aware that something else was needed for the way we operate and therefore, we opted for Alonso. The role of Santander? Certainly, they are happy, but it is not the sponsors that choose the drivers: we have never operated like that and we never will.”

The Schumacher Twins

There is a lot of talk about Michael Schumacher possibly making a Formula 1 comeback and this was one of the most discussed topics. “The real Schumacher, the one I know, will remain forever part of the Ferrari family. “I said it in Monza and I repeated it in Abu Dhabi,” said Montezemolo, before proceeding with some irony, “but, it seems he has a twin brother, identical in every way, who seems to have it in his head to go and race in Formula 1 with Mercedes. I don’t know him personally, but it seems we have nothing to offer him: we have two young drivers in Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, on whom we are counting to deliver a lot next year. Joking apart, Michael’s current role revolves around the development of our road cars, including the important phase which saw us launch the 458 Italia, which is the essence of technology and owes a lot to research carried out on track with the Formula 1 car. I think that, this summer, when I asked him to stand in for Felipe, after the terrible accident in Budapest, he suddenly rediscovered the desire to race and the fact he was unable to follow through with that, left him a void that we are unable to fill. I remember how despondent he sounded on the evening of 9 August, when he called me to say that the problem with his neck meant he could not race in Valencia. It’s lucky that, despite the unsporting stance of some, we were able to run him in the 2007 car at Mugello, otherwise Michael would not have been fully aware of his situation. We have tried to move forward with the idea of running a third car, but for the moment, that is not possible. I don’t know what he will decide for the future, but I extend to him and indeed his twin brother, my very best wishes.”

ItaliaspeedTV: Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo interview