Ferrari are ‘super’ motivated for the new F1 season according to team chief Stefano Domenicali. He was speaking from Ferrari’s joint press event at the Madonna di Campiglio skiing resort to present the new F1 and Moto GP seasons.
Ferrari used the opportunity yesterday to announce that the launch date for their new car for the 2011 season will be on January 28 at their Maranello base.
And having come so close to winning the drivers’ title last season, when only an ill-advised pit-stop from Fernando Alonso at the last race in Abu Dhabi allowed Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel to overtake him in the standings, Ferrari are determined to go one step further this year.
“Alonso and (Felipe) Massa have the same motivations as always,” said Stefano Domenicali.
“Fernando is super-motivated because he is coming off a season in which he didn’t manage to win the title despite an incredible second half to the season.
“Felipe also has the desire to do well after a very difficult season and we expect a lot from him.
“To win the constructors’ title we need two winning drivers.”
And Domenicali left no doubts as to what the team expects from the coming campaign.
“We expect to be very competitive in 2011 with the aim of winning both titles,” he added.
“However, to win we’ll have to be perfect because otherwise it will be difficult. We need to improve our reliability and interpretation of what happens in the race.
“We have all the elements to do well and the team is very motivated. It’s fundamental that we erase from our memories what happened in Abu Dhabi and confront the new season without fear.”
Alonso was in a position to win the title until an ill-timed pit-stop put him down the field and buried in traffic that he failed to negotiate.
Ferrari have already reshuffled their staff with Chris Dyer, the man widely believed to have been held responsible for the poor timing of the pit-stop, replaced with Pat Fry as the team’s head of race track engineering.
Domenicali also moved to refute claims from Red Bull that the Scuderia are trying to steal their best technicians.
“I don’t usually comment on what others say or do but maybe some people drank too much over the festive period,” said Domenicali.
“Ferrari doesn’t steal anyone, it’s the technicians who want to come here because they are fascinated by our atmosphere and that’s normal because here they can grow.”