Domenicali: Valencia won't tell us much
Stefano Domenicali says F1 cannot read too much into next week's Valencia lap times as they will not provide a clear indication of form.
Ferrari, who launched their F150 at Maranello on Friday, will be one of eight teams, including reigning World Champions Red Bull Racing, running their 2011 cars in the opening pre-season test.
But while many fans are eagerly anticipating a sign of what is to come when the F1 season kicks off in March, Domenicali insists the opening pre-season test is not a true indication.
In fact, the Ferrari team boss says his Scuderia won't be looking for pace in Valencia, they'll be focusing on reliability.
"I am not expecting at the first test to have a real picture of the competition," said Domenicali.
"All of us will pursue different objectives and only in Barcelona (for the third test) will we understand something more. In the (final) Bahrain test we will have a better idea of the competitive situation.
"We will have a flavour of performance after Valencia and Jerez, but in the third test we will get a good overview - as at Barcelona there are some bends where we tended to be a little bit inferior compared to our opponents.
"We will understand there if we have improved in that technical aspect, which was not our strength."
Ferrari's focus on reliability is in response to last year's lost Championship.
Although one could argue that Fernando Alonso lost the World title through a strategic error in Abu Dhabi, it may not have gone down to the final race if Ferrari had put more points on the board earlier in the Championship.
"It is fundamental to start well, because in a Championship like last year if you don't gain points from the very beginning you may pay the price at the end," Domenicali admitted.
"I think that, in terms of reliability and performance, it is important not to lose points.
"This is very important. Of course you have opportunities to recover, but the more points you can get, the better it is to be in the top ranking."
Credit: PlanetF1.com (www.planetf1.com)
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