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In horse
riding, the expression says that the best way to recover
from a fall is to get straight back in the saddle again.
On Sunday in Belgium, Fernando Alonso did not so much
fall off his Prancing Horse, rather he was pushed off it
very forcefully in that first corner incident. With the
Italian Grand Prix action at Monza starting this Friday
morning, the Ferrari man won’t have long to wait to be
back in the saddle. The fact Fernando will indeed be fit
enough to drive in the Scuderia’s home race is precisely
why team principal Stefano Domenicali described the
overriding emotion after Belgium as one of relief.
“Naturally, there was disappointment from a sporting
point of view, because the final result could have been
totally different,” said Domenicali. “I believe that,
seeing how the race developed, we could have collected
some very important points for the championship. The
relief comes from the fact that there could have been a
very serious injury for Fernando, but he is fine, no
problem at all. He came back with us on the charter
flight to Maranello and on Monday, he was fine, without
pain and already totally focussed on the next race.”
With just a few days to go before the home race,
Domenicali is aware that it’s time to move on from Spa
and focus on this weekend. “We left Belgium with the
awareness that the championship is still in our hands,”
he continued. “It is in the hands of all the people at
Maranello, who have to improve our car, because it is
not yet at the level it should be. The competition is
still very open and Fernando is still leading the
championship and that is the basis on which we can look
ahead.”
Fernando’s accident at La Source naturally stole all the
headlines, but his team-mate’s strong drive to fifth
place, keeping the Spaniard’s title rival, Mark Webber,
behind him was a praiseworthy performance. “I’m very
happy for Felipe,” confirmed Domenicali. “We needed that
sort of race from him as a team and he himself needed it
as a driver. After a very difficult qualifying the day
before, in the race he showed a very strong pace. We
need to see that again, not only in Monza this weekend,
but also for the rest of the season.”
Anyone who has been to Monza for a Formula 1 Grand Prix
will know that, whatever the Scuderia’s performance in
the season up to that point, the support from the crowd
goes beyond anything one can witness at any other event
on the calendar. “It is indeed a special race for us,”
agreed Domenicali. “There is a special feeling for our
home race, but the reality is that the number of points
on offer are the same as at the other 19 rounds, all
around the world. To sum it up, I would like to think we
can leave Monza having scored very special points at
what is a very special race for us. This will be a
challenging weekend from the technical point of view.
All the teams, including ourselves, will run cars in a
one-off specification to meet the very low downforce
requirements that are unique to this track and we know
several of our rivals are very competitive at this type
of circuit.” However, even in such a technical sport as
Grand Prix racing, the human element still has an
important role to play. “We will have so many fans
supporting us in the Autodromo and I’m sure that we will
get a boost from the emotion they will transfer to the
team and the drivers. The more “horsepower” the fans can
give us, the better. We will be doing all we can to
repay them for that support. All the same, I am not
going to make any predictions, except to say I hope we
bring home a good points haul from Monza.”
A quick look at the numbers for this weekend shows that
Scuderia Ferrari has won its home race 18 times out of
61 race, all bar the 1980 one which was run at Imola
being held at the “Temple of Speed” that is Monza. The
last of those victories came courtesy of Fernando Alonso
who won here in 2010, having also stood on the top step
of the podium in 2007. He also visited the podium when
he came second in ’05 and third last year. As for Felipe
Massa, his best result is a third place in 2010.
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