Ferrari head Stefano Domenicali says being overlapped after leading the race hurts – Formula 1 news
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has said that it was quite painful for the whole team when Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton overlapped Fernando Alonso before taking the chequered flag at the recently held Spanish Grand Prix.
Alonso led the first quarter of the race and it seemed that he would definitely finish on the podium as he was going at a very good pace in the early stages of the race.
The two-time Formula 1 champion took the lead before reaching the first corner of the first lap as he started from 4th place and took the inside line to take the advantage. Lewis Hamilton on the other hand had a fairly disappointing start as he
dropped from 3rd place on the grid to 4th but ended up in 2nd place just 0.6 seconds behind Sebastian Vettel. Meanwhile, Alonso finished a lap behind the two drivers.
“There is no denying that being lapped hurts. It's even more painful after seeing a driver of Fernando's calibre putting on such a breathtaking display at the start and then fighting like a lion to keep drivers with clearly faster cars behind him for almost
twenty laps,” said Domenicali.
Since Alonso finished in fifth place and Felipe Massa retired out of the race due to issues with his car’s gearbox, it was quite annoying for Ferrari. The Italian team was hoping for a major upgrade on their new car this past weekend but a part of that upgrade
was deemed illegal by the International Automobile Federation (FIA).
As a result, Domenicali believes that the team should provide both of its drivers with a reliable and fast car so that they can score the best possible results for the team.
“On a track that favours cars that have a lot of aerodynamic downforce, ours are lacking in this area and that was glaringly obvious, especially on the new hard tyres brought here by Pirelli. We never managed to get this type of tyre to work and our pace
was at least two seconds off that of the first four,” said the Ferrari boss.
The upcoming race in Monaco is going to take place this weekend and it is going to be interesting to see how Ferrari manage their car since it is one of the most technical tracks of the Formula 1 calendar.
Tags: