Ferrari's Stefano Domenicali says team lacks pace in qualifying: Formula One news
Ferrari’s team principal Stefano Domenicali has expressed his concern about his team’s performance during qualifying and asked them to react positively to the situation. The scarlet car has shown consistency during the race day of the first two races of
the 2011 Formula One season in Australia and Malaysia, but failed to deliver in the qualifying sessions.
Domenicali claimed, “One element where we have to have a big step is to create better down-force on our car. That is the key of our performance because, if we do that, we can start much further in front on the grid.”
The Italian further added, “There are a lot of things to understand and a lot depends really on the down-force of the car, and the understanding of how to use the best of the tyres because that is an element that can be very important.”
Only McLaren have been able to challenge Red Bull during the qualifiers, as no other team has the pace to match the reigning champions. Things have been a bit different on the race day though, as Ferrari have shown pace and reliability on longer stints.
Commenting on the outcome of the Malaysian GP, Domenicali was pleased with what his team had achieved. Both Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso finished the race in fifth and sixth place respectively.
The Spaniard could have ended the race in a better position, but had a collision with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, in which he damaged his his front-wing. Alonso was putting a lot of pressure on the British driver and tried an aggressive move in an attempt
to overtake, but hit the rear tyre of Hamilton’s car.
This cost both drivers a lot of time, as they had to make an extra stop. However, they still managed to finish the race in the points. Hamilton tried to defend his position more than once and Alonso got too aggressive, which caused the collision. Both drivers
were penalised for the clash, which could have been avoided and they accepted that.
Due to the 20 second penalty, Hamilton dropped down one spot to eighth whereas Alonso kept his place as he was way ahead of the car behind him.
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