Ferrari
President Luca di Montezemolo has quickly waded into the
escalating row over Ferrari's use of team orders, which
are not permitted in F1, to switch the positions of its
drivers in Sunday afternoon's German Grand Prix,
confirming that he was satisfied with the way in which
the team acted, saying he had no interest in the
controversy that it has been stirred up and stating that
the interests of the Maranello team come first.
The 43 points picked up in Germany definitely reboots
the team’s ambitions in both championships, as there are
still eight races to go and anything can happen.
Clearly, there is no real margin for error, so the team
must continue down this path, as Stefano Domenicali, who
has been castigated in the media over the last
day-and-a-half for the inept manner in which the team
conveyed the news to move over to Massa, said in his
message to the squad. “[The] one-two is the best reward
possible for everything you managed to achieve in recent
weeks,” said the Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal. “It’s
been a while that we deserved to achieve something
worthwhile and finally we did it. You have been
exceptional in reacting quickly to improve the car until
it was competitive at the highest level. Now we just
have to remain focussed on our own work and continue
down this path, starting in Budapest.”
Montezemolo posted a
message on the team's website yesterday: “I am very
happy for all our fans who finally, yesterday, saw two
Ferraris lead from start to finish as they dominated the
race. The result is down to the efforts of all our
people, who never give up. Now we have to continue
working like this, to improve the car so that is
competitive at all the circuits we will encounter.
Alonso and Massa also did very well, giving their all
throughout the weekend. The polemics are of no interest
to me. I simply reaffirm what I have always maintained,
which is that our drivers are very well aware, and it is
something they have to stick to, that if one races for
Ferrari, then the interests of the team come before
those of the individual. In any case, these things have
happened since the days of Nuvolari and I experienced it
myself when I was Sporting Director, in the days of Niki
Lauda and not just then. Therefore enough of this
hypocrisy, even if I can well believe that some people
might well have liked to see our two drivers eliminate
one another, but that is definitely not the case for me
or indeed for our fans.”
The Hungarian Grand
Prix is just around the corner and indeed the two F10s
that triumphed in Hockenheim have already arrived in the
Hungarian capital, along with the first group of
mechanics. The last round of the championship prior to
the summer break will be another crucial step for the
Scuderia: the team's fightback calls for another good
result on Hungarian soil.
|
|
|
