14/12/2015
NEWS STORY
Conceding that there is still room for improvement, Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne claims he is happy with the team's 2015 performance.
"2015 was a great season," he told reporters at the team's press Christmas lunch today. "The only regret might be that we could have done even better but for a handful of mistakes.
"But overall, I am very pleased, considering where we started from this year, as that is the real reference point. In any case, I have great respect for our competitors and it will only be at the first race in Australia that we will see how things really stand."
Maurizio Arrivabene delivered a clear and honest assessment of his first season at Maranello: "I learned to be a Ferrari man and what it means to work in this company," he said.
"Over the course of the season, my role was simply to unite the team, to ensure that everyone, in their various departments, spoke to one another," he added, no doubt referring to the qualities that no date made him editor Balfe's 'Manager of the Year'.
"When it comes to next season, there is no way one should start from the supposition that 'we are making a step forward, therefore we will win.' That's partly because we finished second and therefore we need to start from the basis of what the winners will do, how much they will progress, especially as they dominated the past two seasons. And that is our aim.
"The new car? We are working on it and we are doing so with great professionalism, but above all with respect towards those who have already won."
Finally, Marchionne had a word to about his two driver: "With every passing day Sebastian Vettel has become more of a Ferrari man and, from mid-season on, Kimi Raikkonen made a significant change for the better."