08/09/2011
NEWS STORY
Stefano Domenicali says that everything is being put in place for a new period of Ferrari domination.
Between 1996 and 2006, Ferrari won twelve world championship titles - seven as constructors and five drivers' titles courtesy of Michael Schumacher. During that 'golden age', the Italian team won eighty-seven Grands Prix, seventy-two of them, again, courtesy of the German.
Now, in his second season with the legendary Maranello outfit, Ferrari is planning a similar era of domination, with Fernando Alonso.
Ahead of this weekend's Italian Grand Prix at Monza, a race the Spaniard won last season, team boss Stefano Domenicali says that everything is being put in place for a new period of domination.
"I was part of the group since 1991 so I know very well the story," he told Reuters. "Before doing a fantastic season, we took six or seven years before being competitive, to win in a continuous way. So we are putting down once again the basis to be strong for a long time."
However, the Italian admits that F1 has changed massively in the years since the era in which Schumacher won five consecutive titles, citing the strict limits on spending and the drastic reduction in testing.
Also, paying tribute to Red Bull design guru Adrian Newey, who has previously won titles with Williams and McLaren, and is therefore the exception, Domenicali believes there are "no more big egos that make the difference", design superstars now giving way to design teams.
"Now it's a matter of team work that has to be really working close together in the best way," he said. "So I think that now we are in this process to build up the team and I think that in one year we will be hopefully ready to start again another long series of victories."