F1: Ferrari Has To Remain Calm, Says Domenicali

Formula 1

F1: Ferrari Has To Remain Calm, Says Domenicali

Ferrari boss optimistic but favors caution after victory in Valencia...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted June 25, 2012 Valencia (ESP)

Ferrari Team Principal Stefano Domenicali. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Stefano Domenicali was full of praise for Fernando Alonso after the European GP, but as ever the Ferrari boss cautioned that the team should keep its feet on the ground.

Domenicali said was delighted with the way Alonso fought for the victory while carrying the pressure of racing in front of his home crowd.

“We know that he’s a number one driver, and that’s the reason why he’s here with us,” said Domenicali. “I’m very happy for him today, because he had such a pressure. Certain things you have it or you feel it just watching the eyes of a man that you know. So I was really so happy from my heart to see him in this fighting mode, and I’m also happy because the team was supporting him also in terms of the right strategy, in terms of the right calls, and this is the strength of our team.”

“We need to stay cool and calm. Today was a victory which was very important, because our main competitors in the drivers’ championship had some problems. And this is part of the thing that we said, reliability was a key factor this year, you need to score points every time. And so, it’s a very heavy Sunday.

“But we saw a Red Bull that improved a lot in terms of pure performance, and we need to not forget that. That has to be a target for our people at home who have worked a lot, but it’s not enough – we need to keep pushing. We know that things can change very quickly, and that’s very important to stay focused, and push as hard as we can.”

Domenicali reiterated that pole position is the true barometer of performance.

“We will never be happy until we get back to a pole position, because unfortunately this is a very important element of the race. We are fighting, we are fighting to improve the car. Up until that moment we cannot be happy because the qualifying means that for the pure performance point of view we have reached the highest level, and at the moment we need to be fair, we are not yet there.

“So we need to keep working with the feet on the ground. Knowing the fact that this is for sure a totally different car from where we were at the beginning of the season, so I’m happy because the guys have reacted in the right direction. I keep all the pressure on my shoulders, listen to everything, that’s part of the game, but keep everyone focused on the right job to do at home.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.