Ferrari not giving up on title race
Wednesday 10th August 2011
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali is refusing to give up on the team's title hopes as long as winning is still a mathematical possibility.
The Formula One world has watched in awe so far this season as Sebastian Vettel claimed the six of the first eight races to build an imposing lead at the top of the drivers championship standings.
In contrast, Ferrari had to wait till the British Grand Prix - the season's ninth race - before claiming their first way through Fernando Alonso.
However, Vettel's dominance is starting to be questioned after going winless in the last three races.
In that time, McLaren duo Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have followed Alonso's triumphant race at Silverstone with wins of their own, but while they have gained relative headway in the standings, Vettel still leads second-placed team-mate Mark Webber by 85 points.
But according to Domenicali, as long as championship is not mathematically over, Ferrari will be approaching each race with optimism.
"I always try and think positive," Domenicali said on the official Formula One website. "We believe in our chances and will continue to do so until it is a mathematical impossibility.
"Of course, we need to win races and maybe something could change.
"We could have done that already in the last bit of the season, but we know how that went and why."
Domenicali also admitted Ferrari had a terrible start to the season, which is the main reason why they presently lie 168 points behind Red Bull in third place on the constructors standings.
Nonetheless, he fully expects the team to build on their recent good form for the remaining eight races of the season.
"If I had to score our season so far, I would mark it a 6+, which represents the mid-point between the terrible start and a great fightback that we saw in the second part.
"I expect we will continue down this route which has seen Fernando score more points than any other driver in the last four races, all the way to the end of the season."
However, the closing the points gap between them and Red Bull could eventually prove too big a task.
More importantly, according to Domenicali, is for Ferrari to match Red Bull's performance on the track, and avoid a repeat of last season when their car was evidently slower than that of their rivals.
"Our aim is to win as much as possible and to have a car that is competitive at the highest level.
"Let's not forget that last year, while fighting all the way to the end, we were still behind Red Bull in terms of performance.
"We want to close the gap, which has already been considerably reduced - if not almost wiped out - in the last few races."
The Formula One season will resume at the Belgian Grand Prix on August 28, where Lewis Hamilton finished first last year.
Credit: ESPN STAR (www.espnstar.com)
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