F1: Ferrari Still Not The Fastest Car, Says Domenicali

Formula 1

F1: Ferrari Still Not The Fastest Car, Says Domenicali

Ferrari boss and Fernando Alonso not satisfied...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted July 22, 2012 Hockenheim (DEU)

Fernando Alonso (Right) with Stefano Domenicali (Left) Ferrari team principal. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali agrees with Fernando Alonso’s assertion that the team still doesn’t have the fastest car – despite the Spaniard’s healthy championship lead.

Domenicali stressed that Ferrari cannot afford to fall behind in the development race, given the close nature of the championship.

“It’s true, that’s what I said in Silverstone,” said Domenicali. “I believe we still don’t have the fastest car, if we had the fastest car maybe it would be easier to win. We need to improve the car, and we need to make sure our car is good in all the different conditions, wet/dry, different kinds of tires, and so on.

“For sure it’s such a tight championship you need to make sure you develop the car race by race, otherwise you will lose points – you will lose because the competition is so strong. If you think that today the first three cars were in 2-3 seconds, or whatever it is, it’s nothing.

“I respect all the competitors, because we may have two difficult races, and then with such a close gap, everything is possible. I don’t want to underestimate anyone in the first five or six, because I want to make sure we are able to focus on maximizing what we are able to do.”

Meanwhile Domenicali was full of praise for Alonso after his third win of the season.

“I think that considering it was 67 qualifying laps, he’s at the peak of his personal performance, no doubt about it. He has a great momentum. We need to try to keep this momentum as long as possible, I would say up to the end of November, and the first of December he can do whatever he wants.”

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.