Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is taking few comforts from his team’s German Grand Prix win.
Following Fernando Alonso’s win at Hockenheim Montezemolo warned that his team’s rivals were getting stronger:
“I am concerned, more so than the day after Valencia,” Montezemolo told the team’s official website.
“I see very strong opponents: McLaren has made great progress, Red Bull is very strong, Sauber had a race pace that was a match for ours and Lotus is very strong at times.
“Therefore, we have to be very careful: after we had a difficult start to the season, maybe our rivals did not expect to see Ferrari capable of fighting back this strongly, but now they will redouble their efforts to beat us.
“Therefore, we must stay very focussed and continue our efforts to improve continuously.”
Montezemolo praised his team’s efforts in overcoming their poor start to the season: “I want to tell you I am proud of you.
“When I watched you applauding the drivers, I was thinking that I am lucky to work with people like you, people who have known how to work without fuss, with ability and determination to redress the difficult situation at the start of the season, which was not at the level of the name Ferrari.”
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Image ?é?® Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo
Eggry (@eggry)
25th July 2012, 17:55
I start to believe last couple of season changed Montezemolo…at least his speech.
BasCB (@bascb)
25th July 2012, 18:30
making more sense, less full of himself and Ferrari glory?
Mike (@mike)
26th July 2012, 10:32
He is still preaching… I dunno, Give it a week and he’ll say something stupid.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
26th July 2012, 13:30
@mike I reckon it will either be a complaint about moving to V6, wanting customer cars or a third Ferrari ;)
Mike (@mike)
26th July 2012, 13:32
@andrewtanner
Agreed.
Steph (@)
25th July 2012, 18:38
I get what Luca is saying as I’m more anxious now than when the Ferrari was a dog but it would be nice to hear something cheery from him!
nick1245
25th July 2012, 18:43
Is it just me or does there seem to be an article, a speech or a quote from Ferrari talking about how they aren’t the quickest team, and they need to catch up with the others etc.. every single day. Every time I look at an f1 related site there’s something along those lines and it’s pretty annoying. They seem to want people to think that the Ferrari is not as quick as it actually is jut to make Alonso seem even better than he is (not taking anything away from Alonso, I still believe he’s the best driver on the grid.) Just seems they want to lower peoples expectations and can’t seem to accept their car is very near the front at the moment.
colinf (@colinf)
25th July 2012, 19:37
But by every conceivable objective measure, Ferrari ARE NOT the quickest car at the moment. I think they are just being realistic. Also, one does not have to dig deep at all to understand that Alonso has punched well above his weight with that car. Just because they are Ferrari does not mean that they are hiding some big secret…
Everyone loves an underdog, right?
mnmracer (@mnmracer)
25th July 2012, 21:27
What would those ‘conceivable objective measures’ be?
The only ‘conceivable objective measures’ are the results, which show Alonso scored most points and has been doing so by Malaysia.
Mike (@mike)
26th July 2012, 10:33
Erm… Yeah, well, I think he means, considering how much potential other teams have showed.
However, you have to say, the Ferrari is, and has been on the level of it’s main rivals for some time now.
Jordan C (@mach1na)
25th July 2012, 19:54
I feel Montezemolo is just doing what any good boss needs to do. Keep pushing for greatness and not get trapped in a false sense of security with Alonso leading the WDC. It is true that Ferrari is not the fastest car among the front runners who are always getting stronger. If it takes
naggingconstant reminding of the team to keep fighting, then so be it. We’ve seen in years past how complacency has negatively affected Ferrari’s campaigns while teams like Red Bull and McLaren always bring upgrades despite having large comfortable leads.Under normal circumstances, constant upgrades to the car and help from your teammate to take points off competitors are enough to help sustain a lead in campaign. Obviously one of those elements isn’t working as they would like (Massa), so they need to push at the factory.
brum55
25th July 2012, 19:56
They aren’t quickest. They have been lucky that it has been raining in the last two qualifying sessions or Alonso would have started 4th at best.
Frain stermin (@fanser)
25th July 2012, 21:40
he had won started from 8 and 11…why made u so convinced that if he star 4 he can’t win????
Hotbottoms (@hotbottoms)
25th July 2012, 22:03
That’s not what @brum55 was implicating. Besides it was raining in Malaysia and in Europe there were lucky safety car, Hamilton had trouble on pits and both Vettel and Grosjean had a mechanic failure.
Frain stermin (@fanser)
26th July 2012, 0:10
well that’s part of the game…but to be fairness in silverstone he can get pole also in dry condition (ferrari is very strong in down force) in Germany hamilton was tha favorite..but 2 or 3 was in his possibility…
JB (@)
25th July 2012, 18:54
@nick1245You are right about there being something written along those lines about Ferrari but, matter of fact is that it´s true. Ferrari still doesn´t have the fastest car on the grid. That is undeniable. As to wether this makes Alonso look good, well the thing is that there is no need for that because Alonso is already great and doesn´t need help but, I understand your point… I felt the same way last season about SV… funny how things change…
John H (@john-h)
25th July 2012, 21:10
I would like to take my hat off to Ferrari this season. They may not be my favourite team (mainly due to their arrogant attitude in the past), but this season has seen a real attitude change and that in my opinion has helped them in terms of development and being a coherent unit when facing their problems – not just a collection of individuals. It’s also nice to hear them being more modest… even Montezemolo!… long may it continue.
Never thought I’d enjoy Ferrari doing well but guys like Domenicali deserve some success this year I think.
Hotbottoms (@hotbottoms)
25th July 2012, 21:55
Interesting that both McLaren and Ferrari seem to think (according to the articles published today) that the top three cars are McLaren, Ferrari and RedBull. Still many comments here in F1Fanatic imply that Alonso is driving only the 4th (or even the 5th) fastest car on the field. It’s just not true.
Alonso is having a great season without a doubt, but his car is great too. It’s only Massa’s extremely bad performances so far that make it look like Fernando is in his own class.
suka (@suka)
26th July 2012, 3:36
I doubt it’s only Massa’s extremely bad performances because if so, he’d be long fired by now.
colinf (@colinf)
26th July 2012, 3:58
Then why has Alonso struggled so much in qualifying? He’s clearly flat out on his laps and well on it…
Broom (@)
26th July 2012, 7:52
He is, you agreed that had it not been for the rain they wouldn’t have so far. Rain evens out machinery and Alonso and Schumacher have been starting in false positions.
Alonso was eventually caught and passed by Webber in Silverstone and was never able to make a gap to Vettel or Button.
Lotus are as fast as anyone, however their qualifying pace has been lacking all season but, with their new updates, if it is sunny on Saturday they should be battling for pole with Red-Bulls and McLaren.
Hotbottoms (@hotbottoms)
26th July 2012, 9:35
Yes I agree that Alonso wouldn’t have won in Germany and Malaysia had it been dry all weekend. Ferrari possibly hasn’t been the quickest car on dry conditions on any weekend, but I think that on average (and that naturally includes wet races) Alonso has had the best or the second best car (after RB). This has been a crazy season and no car has been constantly quick.
It’s not logical to argue that Alonso didn’t have the quickest car on Silverstone, because Webber caught and overtook him. That argument is only valid, if we already assume that Alonso is (and was in Silverstone) the fastest driver. Thus we can’t use this argument to say Ferrari wasn’t the quickest car in Silverstone (even though it could be true). I don’t know the word in English, but in Finnish argumenting like this is called “kehäpäätelmä”, “circle thinking”.
Hotbottoms (@hotbottoms)
26th July 2012, 9:44
Also, rain doesn’t even out machinery. It’s just that different things count on wet conditions. The best cars on wet in Germany (Ferrari and RB) were the ones with the worst tyre degreation. Apparently they are also the best ones at getting heat on their tyres (when raining). Lotus (possibly the best car on managing the tyres) had huge problems with tyre temperature on qualification.
Postreader
25th July 2012, 22:39
And after a few more months… Montezemolo is “very concerned” for Ferrari’s rivals are very strong as they enter the Abu Dhabi GP with a 74 points advantage. “Our car isn’t the fastest”, adds Alonso.
McFillin (@kcampos12)
26th July 2012, 15:57
lol