JANUARY 12, 2011

Ferrari targets better start in 2011

Stefano Domenicali, speaking at Ferrari's media 'Wroom' ski event at Madonna di Campiglio in Italy, says the Scuderia is targeting a stronger start to its 2011 campaign than last year.

Stefano Domenicali, speaking at Ferrari's media 'Wroom' ski event at Madonna di Campiglio in Italy, says the Scuderia is targeting a stronger start to its 2011 campaign than last year.

Despite Fernando Alonso winning the Bahrain season-opener in 2010, the team lost ground in the early season races thereafter.

"In 2010 we just missed out on the drivers title with Fernando Alonso and we came third in the constructors championship," Domenicali said. "The target for 2011 is as easy to say as it is hard to achieve - it requires taking one step forward in the drivers' championship and two in the teams'. These have to be our targets because we are Ferrari. To manage it we want to have a car that is super-competitive and reliable from the very start.

"We know that we will have to be perfect, including in how we react to all the events that can crop up in a race weekend - because when the opponents are so strong and numerous that's what you need if you aspire to win."

Deflecting media attention from the strategic error in the Abu Dhabi finale, Domenicali argued that it was the team's failure to get to grips with the early races that ultimately cost Ferrari.

"Everyone reckons that it was all down to Abu Dhabi and the mistake made there, but the truth is that the championship was lost in the early part of the season, when we failed to pick up the points that were within our grasp," he said. "At the final race we missed a decisive penalty but, as is the case in football, the best thing to do is to take another one immediately, to consign the mistake to history, even if it does not wipe out all the good work we did earlier.

"I clearly remember that, at the start of the summer, no one would have bet a single Euro on our chances of challenging to the end. Now, there is a great will to do well and to put behind us the bad end to a season which was nevertheless a positive one."