Ferrari admits '09 could be lost cause
The problems that have kept the 2009 Ferrari off the front-running pace might not be possible to resolve this year, Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo has admitted.
The reigning constructors' champion squad has just one podium finish - Kimi Raikkonen's third place in Monaco - on its 2009 tally, and is a distant fourth in this year's table, 79 points behind Brawn.Di Montezemolo said that while he was confident that Ferrari would keep moving forward, ultimately the car would probably never be as competitive as the team would want.
"I'm confident that we can improve our performance in the next races," he said in an interview for Ferrari's website.
"Having said that, it's quite difficult, if not impossible, to really dramatically change the car in the season without testing. "When you have a car prepared at the start of the season with certain characteristics, it's difficult to change it during the season between one race and the next."
He reiterated his belief that Ferrari lost out because it followed a more conservative version of the controversial diffuser rules, and because it used resources on its KERS device whereas others chose not to bother.
"Unfortunately we started the season with grey rules, difficult to give a correct interpretation," said di Montezemolo.
"The proof is that the three teams that have won the last three world championships - Ferrari, McLaren and Renault - have done the same interpretation and they are not as competitive as before."I'm very confident that we can improve our performances in the next races, and then we can be fully concentrated on next year - without KERS and with clear rules."
Di Montezemolo reckons it was inevitable that Ferrari would have a slump at some point after its long run of success."Ferrari is not doing extremely well this year," he acknowledged."Having said that, it is not possible to do well every year."We won eight championships in the last ten years, we won the manufacturers' championship last year and we lost the drivers' championship at the last corner of the last lap of the last race of the season.
"So I think we're still at the top."He added that Massa's charge from 11th on the grid to fourth at Silverstone last week had fired the team up to keep improving over the coming grands prix."I was pleased to see Felipe Massa doing a fantastic race at Silverstone, and the fourth place is something important for the morale of the team," di Montezemolo said.
Date published : 29 Jun 2009 - 17:28:10
