JANUARY 14, 2009

Domenicali talks about his drivers, present and future

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali hopes that former World Champion Kimi Raikkonen will show his true form in 2009. The Finnish driver seemed to lose his competitiveness towards the end of last season, making a string of mistakes and dropping behind Felipe Massa in the championship. Raikkonen was not happy with instability in the front end of the 2008 Ferrari and hopes that the new car will allow him to be more competitive.

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali hopes that former World Champion Kimi Raikkonen will show his true form in 2009. The Finnish driver seemed to lose his competitiveness towards the end of last season, making a string of mistakes and dropping behind Felipe Massa in the championship. Raikkonen was not happy with instability in the front end of the 2008 Ferrari and hopes that the new car will allow him to be more competitive.

"He cannot wait to get in the car," Domenicali said. "And Felipe Massa is very fresh and has a lot of desire. He really matured last season."

Domenicali said that the team will continue to use Michael Schumacher to give advice on technical development which he believes will be very useful as the only drivers in current F1 who have experience of slick tyres on F1 cars are veterans Rubens Barrichello, Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli, who have been around since slicks were last used in 1997. David Coulthard will doing a similar job with Red Bull Racing.

Domenicali was asked about Fernando Alonso joining the team but refused to give anything away.

"Our drivers have contracts signed," he said. "Fernando is a great driver but we are more than happy with ours."