GreenBkk Ferrari F1 | Abu Dhabi GP - Domenicali: "There is much sadness but we must keep our heads held high"

Abu Dhabi GP - Domenicali: "There is much sadness but we must keep our heads held high"

Credit: Ferrari S.p.A. (http://www.ferrari.com)

Only seven points for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final round of the 2010 season, which came courtesy of a seventh place for Fernando Alonso and a tenth for Felipe Massa. This result means that Fernando finishes second in the Drivers’ Championship while the Scuderia is third in the Constructors’ classification.

Stefano Domenicali: “There is a great sadness at this moment, because to come so close to our goal and to see it slip away for just a few points really hurts. We made a wrong decision in terms of strategy for three reasons: we marked a rival with two cars, we were unduly concerned about the wear rate of the soft tyres and we did not take into consideration the difficulty of getting past other cars on the track. Now, there is no point in discussing the whys and wherefores of how we arrived at this choice: win or lose, we do everything together as a team. At this time, I would like to thank our fans who have always demonstrated their great affection. This was probably the worst race of the season, but when you lose by just a handful of points, it’s clear that the title was not lost here, or at least not just here. I want to congratulate Fernando, who is an extraordinary driver and an extraordinary person. He demonstrated powers of leadership from both inside and outside the cockpit and we will do all we can to give him and Felipe an even better car next year. I wish to thank the team for the great effort they have always put into their daily work, at the track and at home: few people outside the company would have thought in mid-July that we would have made it to Abu Dhabi leading the world championship. Sure, and I repeat myself, now we are sad, but we have to keep our heads held high. We are Ferrari which means we are condemned to having to win, so a second place is a defeat: but this is also part of sport and we have to accept it. Finally, congratulations to Vettel: he had the quickest car and in the end, he was the best, which the points table proved.”

Credit: Ferrari S.p.A. (http://www.ferrari.com)