DOMENICALI NOT THE PROBLEM SAYS FERRARI BOSS: Ferraris Team Principal Stefano Domenicali claims that there are two main factors behind the teams failure to defeat Red Bull for the fourth consecutive year. Domenicali firstly denies that he is the problem whilst speaking to Spanish newspaper AS. He says that “The problem is not Domenicali,” and that “Domenicali is the first to come to work in the morning and the last to leave. “If we had won in 2012, Domenicali would be a phenomenon, he would have done his job well,” he said. Which in any sport is a given, when looking at coaches or team bosses. The Team Principal goes on to state that it is technical problems this year which have hampered any chances of fighting Red Bull for the championship. Earlier on, Ferraris star driver and main championship contender Fernando Alonso conceded that the title this year was lost in July. Meaning that their issues post the British Grand Prix have resulted in a major loss. “The first is that at the beginning of the season we had a car that was competitive in qualifying and very good in race pace. “The problem is that we could not improve the car steadily, because unfortunately in some cases we brought developments that, instead of improving, actually worsened the car,” he said. Domenicali points the finger at tyre supplier Pirelli and says that they were the teams second problem. “I do not mention why or whether it was right or not, but in changing the tyre type we have not been able to exploit the best feature we had — our competitive race pace.” Ferrari have strengthened their technical team by poaching Lotus technical director James Allison, who will take on a similar role alongside current Ferrari technical boss Pat Fry. For 2014, the Maranello squad have also plucked Kimi Raikkonen also from Lotus, to partner Alonso. Raikkonen won Ferrari their only championship post the Schumacher reign in 2007. In Alonsos four year tenure at Ferrari, he has come down to the final race to win the championship twice. In 2010 at Abu Dhabi and in 2012 in Brazil. On both occasions being beaten by Sebastian Vettel. The addition of Raikkonen is in a bid to reclaim the constructors championship in 2014, as well as the drivers title. Having two heavyweight drivers in the team who can score points consistently would be a serious asset. However since the Raikkonen signing, there have been rumours of a dissatisfied Alonso, who is looking to depart the team. It was, if not clear after his criticism of the car during the Hungarian Grand Prix, that after four unsuccessful years at Ferrari, he wants either a car to beat Vettel or to take up an opening elsewhere, maybe McLaren.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 06:00:26 +0000