12/01/2011
NEWS STORY
Having failed to win a title since 2008, Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali admits the team is targeting both titles this season.
The Italian outfit went to Abu Dhabi looking a certainty for the Drivers' Championship, its first since Kimi Raikkonen lifted the crown in 2007, however, a dreadful strategic error and an unconvincing performance from Fernando Alonso saw Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel prove victorious.
In the wake of the season finale, the Maranello team was in turmoil with the media and even politicians turning on the 'hope of Italy'. Looking forward to this season however, Domenicali is under no illusions,
"In 2010 we just missed out on the drivers title with Fernando Alonso and we came third in the constructors championship," he told reporters today. "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 one for the teams.
"These have to be our targets," he continued, "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 this is what you need if you aspire to win."
Referring to the new car, which will be unveiled at Maranello on January 28 and subsequently debuted by Fernando Alonso at Valencia four days later, he said: "The car that you will see at the Maranello launch will be very different from the one that makes its debut on March 13 in Bahrain," added Domenicali. "We will continue to develop the car up to the last available day, as we believe the other teams will."
The Valencia test will mark Pat Fry's debut in his new role as of head of race track engineering, which he holds in addition to his existing title of deputy technical director. However, Domenicali was at pains to say that Fry's appointment, which saw Chris Dyer moved sideways within company, was not in retaliation to the team's failure in Abu Dhabi.
"For a while we were thinking of improving the team in certain areas so this decision was not taken on impulse after what happened in Abu Dhabi," he said, "if anything it was just brought forward. Pat will have the responsibility of running all the track activities both technical and relating to the drivers.
Together with the race engineers, Fry will also have the support of a new technical body the team has created: the Operations Research department, which will be headed by Neil Martin, formerly Head of Strategic Operations at Red Bull. This department will also have the job of improving the integration between simulator, wind tunnel and technical office.
Domenicali confirmed that there will be no other changes.