italiaspeed.com: SCUDERIA FERRARI - 2010 F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

An early pit call that dramatically turned out to be the wrong way to go cost Fernando Alonso his F1 world championship points lead and unable to finish any higher than seventh the title was wrested away from Ferrari's grasp by Sebastien Vettel.

Yesterday Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo and Vice Chairman Piero Ferrari, who came to the United Arab Emirates to support the Scuderia Ferrari in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final act in the 2010 Formula 1 Championship, from close up, visited Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, the theme park, dedicated to the Prancing Horse on Yas Island.

"Our morale is low after the conclusion to this season, but that’s sport. We had everything in place to win the title with Fernando but today, things did not go our way," said Luca di Montezemolo after yesterday's grand prix. "All the same, I want to publicly thank the team for being capable of getting to the final round still in the fight for the Drivers’ title, staging a fight back which back in July, almost everyone considered an impossible task."

An early pit call that dramatically turned out to be the wrong way to go cost Fernando Alonso his F1 world championship points lead in Abu Dhabi yesterday and unable to finish any higher than seventh the title was wrested away from Ferrari's grasp by Red Bull's Sebastien Vettel.

Five wins and a total of ten podiums for Fernando Alonso in his first year with Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and five podiums for team-mate Felipe Massa: a fantastic and competitive season for the Maranello squad, but all the same, so soon after the final chequered flag in the Abu Dhabi night, it is hard to come to terms with the fact that Fernando Alonso missed out on taking the Drivers’ title by just five points. In the end, the Spaniard finished the 55 lap race in seventh place, with the Brazilian tenth.

How could this have happened, when on Saturday evening, the odds, although not terribly big, did seem stacked in Fernando’s favour? The short answer is that it was mainly down to the Spaniard losing a place at the start and then, by the team’s own admission, a mistake when choosing the strategy regarding when to make the one compulsory pit stop. Having started behind pole man Vettel, from third place, Fernando immediately lost a place to Button. On the very first lap, the Safety Car came out after Schumacher spun and was hit hard by Liuzzi. A few drivers, including Rosberg and Petrov immediately came in for a tyre change, which would prove very significant later. Vettel was out in the lead, pursued by Hamilton, Button and Fernando, with Webber and Felipe in fifth and sixth respectively.

Having made contact with a wall hard enough to throw sparks up from his right rear wheel, Webber in the Red Bull was the first to make a “planned” stop on lap 11. However, this was really not the ideal time, given that the soft tyres were not degrading as much as expected. Nevertheless, the Scuderia took the decision to bring Felipe in on lap 13 and Fernando on lap 15: in other words, Ferrari had decided to cover Fernando’s closest rival for the title, not just with one car but with both its F10s. It was a serious mistake. Overtaking at this track is very difficult and while the two Ferrari men moved up the order passing the much slower cars, they both butted up against cars with good straight line speed – Felipe stuck behind Alguersuari and Fernando behind Petrov. Instead, Fernando’s strategy should have been based on what was going on at the front of the field, given that having also stopped early, Webber was just as badly baulked by the traffic.

There are some pundits in the sport who believe that when a championship is going down to the wire at the final race, then even if you are fighting one of the contenders for the title for a place in the race, you let him by. This was evidently not something that Petrov believed in and, well within the sporting regulations, he defended his position to the end.

As the number of drivers ahead of Fernando who had yet to change tyres got smaller, it was clear that seventh would be the best he could do, three places short of taking the title if Vettel took the win. And that was that: second and sixth in the Drivers’ and third in the Constructors’. It’s time to think about 2011 and that starts on Friday, here in Abu Dhabi, when all the F1 teams will try tyres provided by the sport’s new supplier, as Pirelli takes over from Bridgestone, the Japanese company with which Ferrari and indeed all the teams have enjoyed such a successful relationship over the years.

Luca di Montezemolo: “Our morale is low after the conclusion to this season, but that’s sport. We had everything in place to win the title with Fernando but today, things did not go our way. All the same, I want to publicly thank the team for being capable of getting to the final round still in the fight for the Drivers’ title, staging a fight back which back in July, almost everyone considered an impossible task. We believed in it right to the end and today’s result should not cancel out what we have done this season. In all but two of the last fourteen years, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro has reached the final race of the season either in the fight for the title or having already won it. Fernando has had an extraordinary season, demonstrating his strength and determination, always being close to the team and making an exceptional contribution. Domenicali has done a great job, keeping the team united at all times, even in the toughest moments. It will take us a little while to get over this disappointment but we have to keep our heads up and be proud of what we have done. Finally, I want to thank our fans, who have always believed in us: when one sees so many Ferrari flags and so many people coming to visit our park here in Abu Dhabi, I am happy that Ferrari is still operating at a high level, especially for them.”

Stefano Domenicali: “There is a great sadness at this moment, because to come so close to our goal and to see it slip away for just a few points really hurts. We made a wrong decision in terms of strategy for three reasons: we marked a rival with two cars, we were unduly concerned about the wear rate of the soft tyres and we did not take into consideration the difficulty of getting past other cars on the track. Now, there is no point in discussing the whys and wherefores of how we arrived at this choice: win or lose, we do everything together as a team. At this time, I would like to thank our fans who have always demonstrated their great affection. This was probably the worst race of the season, but when you lose by just a handful of points, it’s clear that the title was not lost here, or at least not just here. I want to congratulate Fernando, who is an extraordinary driver and an extraordinary person. He demonstrated powers of leadership from both inside and outside the cockpit and we will do all we can to give him and Felipe an even better car next year. I wish to thank the team for the great effort they have always put into their daily work, at the track and at home: few people outside the company would have thought in mid-July that we would have made it to Abu Dhabi leading the world championship. Sure, and I repeat myself, now we are sad, but we have to keep our heads held high. We are Ferrari which means we are condemned to having to win, so a second place is a defeat: but this is also part of sport and we have to accept it. Finally, congratulations to Vettel: he had the quickest car and in the end, he was the best, which the points table proved.”

Felipe Massa: “It’s a real shame the way things went in this race. We had decided to pit early to try and stay ahead of Webber, but we did not manage it and we were then stuck in traffic for almost the whole race, both myself and Fernando. Unfortunately, the cars ahead of us were very quick in a straight line and it was impossible to overtake. At a fantastic venue like this, it’s a shame that overtaking is so difficult. For me, it has definitely not been a great season, as I had expected a lot more out of it. Now we need to react and try to prepare as well as possible for the next season. We made mistakes and we must try not to repeat them. Already, we have two days of testing next week with the new tyres: I am curious to see how they behave.”

Fernando Alonso: “It’s a shame to get to the end of the season and then lose the title at the final moment, but that’s racing, that is sport. Everything went wrong today, from the start itself to the strategy. With hindsight, it would have been better not to pit so soon, but it’s easy to say that when you have all the facts: however, it was definitely not an easy decision. I want to congratulate Red Bull and its drivers: over the course of the season they have had a little something extra than us and they deserve to be where they are today. I had said it over the past few days: this is still a great season. There have been some very intense months and I found myself in a team that has an amazing atmosphere. Now there is some sadness, but I am sure that in a few hours, with a clear head, we will begin to appreciate better what we have achieved. We have to continue like that, staying united and determined. We have to face next year with the same will to win which has characterised this one and, something I learned very quickly, is also in the Ferrari blood. We must improve the car and ensure that the mistakes that all of us – we drivers and the team – have made during the year, are not repeated.”

Chris Dyer: “We are all very down at the moment. We had the car, the team and the driver with which to win the title but we did not manage it because we made the wrong decision in terms of strategy, and there is no point in making excuses. We concentrated too much on what Mark was doing and we then were left bottled up in traffic and that cost us the title. You could say we looked too closely at what was going on behind us without seeing what was in front of our nose. It’s a shame because losing like this hurts, it hurts a lot.”