Ferrari boss relieved at turn around; Alonso rallies the troops
Luca di Montezemolo has praised the resilience of Ferrari, after the Italian manufacturer clawed its way back into the championship race.
Although Ferrari’s title bid hit a dry patch after its victory in Bahrain, the Scuderia returned to form with victory in Hockenheim and second place in Hungary seeing Fernando Alonso move to within 20 points of championship leader Mark Webber.
As a result, the Ferrari president has welcomed the team’s change in fortunes and is hopeful that it will continue for the remainder of the season.
“It was a very busy July, which ended in a very nice way for us,” said di Montezemolo on Ferrari’s website.
“Especially when you look at where we are today, compared to one month ago. For this, I wish to thank our entire workforce, because they put in so much effort to achieve these results.
“The engineers put their heads down and worked on improving the car and the drivers did a great job: Fernando got an amazing start and very nearly managed to take the lead at the first corner, while Felipe brought home a significant points haul, in what was a special race for him, one year on from his accident.”
He added: “It’s true that earlier in the season we have wasted great opportunities and there is still regret for some perplexing decisions, but we must look ahead and believe in the fact that today, we are in the fight for the championship,”
“This is the Ferrari I like to see and the one our fans want to see: a team that can fight and deliver the results.
“We must continue like this and then see where we are at the end. We know we must work even harder and with determination on the development of the car, but our people don’t need me to tell them that.”
Meanwhile Fernando Alonso has urged the team to continue to strive to be the best in the remaining seven races.
“I think we have to be happy with our championship so far,” said Alonso in an interview with Ferrari’s website.
“We’ve had some good races and some disappointing races as well, but overall I think we are in a position now really close to the leader, a very short distance. We are five drivers fighting for the championship so we are there.
“There are seven races to go now, so anything can happen. We all start from zero so we need to be the best in this last part of the championship if we want to win.
“I think we all start from zero. I think no one feels the leader of the championship and no one feels fifth in the championship. We all feel a group and it’s time to deliver now.”
Although the Spaniard admitted that he concerned by Red Bull’s pace in Hungary, he is hopeful that the Maranello-based outfit will be closer in the next couple of rounds.
“I think at Ferrari we always need to think about the win,” he said. “We need to aim for pole positions, for victories every race we go to. But in Hungary obviously this was not possible. We were not as quick as our competitors, as Red Bull. So it was a bit of a disappointment.
“But in the end we know there will be some circuits that will suit our car and we need to take the opportunities as we did in Germany. And there will be some circuits that maybe are not perfect for our characteristics, so we need to make the best of the race as we did in Hungary.”
He added: “That was a perfect circuit for Red Bull and we knew that and we need to remain calm. The championship is 19 races and the for the overall picture I think Ferrari has a competitive package.
“We are in a position in which we can take the lead of the championship if we win one race, so we have to remain calm.”
*The FIA has announced that Ferrari’s disciplinary hearing, regarding the team’s actions in the German Grand Prix, will take place on 8 September.
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