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F1: Not Yet Time for Team Orders, Says Domenicali
Written by: Adam Cooper
RACER Magazine   http://www.racer.com/speedtv
09/06/2008 - 07:42 AM
Spa, Belgium
 
Stefano Domenicali (LAT photo) ยป More Photos

Ferrari boss Stefano Domencali says it is too early for the team to begin focusing on one driver, but admits that team orders could come into play later in the season.

Last year Felipe Massa assisted Kimi Raikkonen at Interlagos after his own title chances had gone. Domenicali denies that the two drivers have been taking points off each other this year.

“I think it is better to have two strong cars rather than one,” said Domenicali. “For sure we will have maybe to take a decision as we did for example last year at a certain moment of the season in order to make sure that what you said is not happening. But at the moment I don't think so. If you look at all the races that we have done there was no situation where one of our drivers took points off the other, not at all.”

He says he sees no problem with Kimi Raikkonen’s level of motivation, despite the Finn’s recent run of disappointment.

“I think that Kimi's motivation is very high because for sure he is the one that doesn't like it at this moment. In terms of motivation I am pretty sure he has a lot inside and what we are doing as a team is to support him and trying to work very hard with him. I am looking forward to seeing once again what all of us are expecting.”

Domenicali says that the
team has addressed the con rod problem that afflicted Massa in Hungary and Raikkonen in Valencia.

“It was the same problem, it was the same con rod I would say because it was the same batch with the sequence of the serial number. Hopefully we have isolated this problem. For sure it has cost a lot of points on our side. Apart from that the problem shows how important the quality control process is, not only inside the company but also with the supplier and the sub-supplier. This is really a key area of joint work and we cannot underestimate the importance of it, so we need to be stronger and stronger in that area.”

He insisted that there had been no change to Ferrari pit stop procedures since he problems in Valencia.

“To be honest, as I said after the race, in our view we respect the FIA decision but it was not an unsafe release of the car because there was plenty of space. It was a very small entry. You can see in the past much, much worse situations but this is part of the racing.

“With regards to Kimi's situation, unfortunately these things happen and this is a key point. Any time there is a pit stop it shows how easy both mechanics and drivers can make mistakes because the tension is very high and you are fighting. This is really a very tense moment for everyone.”
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