Ferrari: Montezemolo renews his support for Domenicali

If the 2011 season is not one of the worst for Ferrari, the results still do not meet the expectations and anticipation that the Scuderia generates. While the season might appear to be salvaged thanks to Fernando Alonso’s victory at Silverstone, the Maranello team remains far from its ambitions at the beginning of the season.

As often in these cases, the Scuderia focused its efforts until the Italian Grand Prix to make a good impression in front of its home crowd, but as soon as the curtain falls this afternoon in front of the Ferrari stand, the Italian team will already be looking towards 2012. However, the Italian press—known for its fiery character—is starting to grow tired of not seeing the Prancing Horse shine as brightly as it did a few years ago: for the Italian media, seasons without titles are failures for the Scuderia and, naturally, Stefano Domenicali’s head is already ready to be put on a spike when Luca di Montezemolo decides to let go of his team principal. Thus, the president of Ferrari was questioned about his support for Stefano Domenicali: The answer to the question, in a word, is yes [I support him]! We won the championship in 2007, and we lost it on the last lap the following season. Then, last year, we did something I thought impossible to do, but once again we lost the championship at the last race. Don’t forget that since 1997, except for 2005 and 2009, Ferrari has always won the title or lost it at the last race, so Ferrari is always at the top.

However, Ferrari will not compete for the title this season, due to a Red Bull team that has become the new stronghold in F1. However, Luca di Montezemolo assures that it is only a matter of time before Ferrari returns to its former glory: « When Jean Todt left the company, it was the beginning of a new era, with new people and a new mentality. Domenicali is very dedicated, and I feel sorry for him and for the tifosi that we didn’t win last year and that we don’t have a competitive car this year. So, the goal for next year, as always, will be to win. »

In any case, Domenicali has recently shown determination to put an end, starting in 2012, to this period of “lean years” for the Scuderia: « We are convinced that this is our last disappointing season. Jean Todt won a lot, but he had the time to build a winning team. I have the ambition to do the same, and I am very optimistic about the future » he confided before this Italian Grand Prix.

Welcome statements according to Luca di Montezemolo: « I am very happy that my team manager is so confident, and I hope he will be in a position to make it happen. I am happy to say this because it means he is committed to making it possible, first of all for the tifosi, so he will be very busy with that » explains Montezemolo in remarks that still sound like a last chance effort.