25/05/2008
NEWS STORY
Six points for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro at the end of the Monaco Grand Prix, all picked up by Felipe Massa, who made it to the third step of the podium. Kimi Raikkonen finished ninth. With this result, the Scuderia maintains its lead in the Constructors' Championship while its drivers are in second and third in the Drivers' three and four points behind the leader for Kimi and Felipe respectively.
Stefano Domenicali: Yesterday, after a great qualifying, it was easy for us to act like prophets foreseeing a possible lottery for today's race, given the weather forecast. We cannot deny we are disappointed with this definitely negative outcome, the result of a combination of errors on our part and bad luck. We got off on the wrong foot, with an infringement of the rules in preparing Kimi's car on the grid, minutes before the start, which resulted in a drive through penalty for the driver. Then we decided to switch our strategy, going for a one-stop race, on the basis that we expected the rain to return and this did not happen. With hindsight is it easy to say we should have made different choices, but the reality is that, at every level, we did not meet our usual high standards. After this long preamble, the overall picture at the end of the first third of the season is still a positive one. We have taken four wins and the same number of poles from six races and we are still solidly in the lead of the Constructors' classification, with Kimi and Felipe still in the hunt for the lead in the Drivers.' Now we must look ahead and get as well prepared as possible for the Canadian Grand Prix. Here we showed we were capable of fighting for the lead and we want to do the same in Montreal, another track that did not suit us so well last year.
Felipe Massa: A shame to have ended up third because of a series of events that did not go in our favour, which can easily happen in these conditions and on this track. At the start, I was very quick and the car was perfect, but then I made a mistake at the first corner, braking on the yellow line and I lost a place to Robert. But after just a few laps I was right behind him and I knew I could push harder. We decided to switch strategies thinking the rain was going to return, but this turned out to be the wrong choice. On full tanks and on a drying track, the standard rain tyres did not have the same grip as the ones my nearest rivals were using. On top of that, there was a radio blackout between the car and the pits for part of the race. Given everything that happened, these six points are still important in light of the championship: we have only got through the first third of the season and there is still a long way to go.
Kimi Raikkonen: A very poor race for me, right from the off. There was a problem with a wheel before the start and we broke the rules, which meant I was given a drive-through penalty. During the race, my main problem was trying to get the tyres to work as well as possible. Then we decided to change the strategy as we expected it to rain again, but it didn't happen. Twice I had to change the nose after breaking the front wing. So, as you can see, a long run of things going wrong which explains the 0 points. I am sorry for Sutil, who I hit with just a few laps to go. I lost control of the car under braking coming out of the tunnel and I could do nothing to avoid him. It's a shame how things went today, as we had the potential to do well. It's true that I've lost the championship lead, but I always said the championship would be a very long one. Now we must prepare as well as possible for Canada where we will try to make up for this disappointment.
Luca Baldisserri: We are very disappointed with this result which is definitely below our level of expectation. We made mistakes which we have to look at to ensure we don't do the same again and we also made a few strategy choices, which all things considered turned out to be wrong even if it easy to be wise after the event. We must draw the right conclusions from this weekend, without colouring our judgement with emotion. We showed we were competitive on a track that traditionally has not suited us, but we did not work at our usual high standard. In less than a fortnight we will face a similar challenge in Montreal, where in 2007, we had problems. We really want to make up for today's disappointment.