Formula One: Ferrari’s journey might end at Monza
Stefano Domenicali, the team boss for Ferrari admitted that a poor result at Monza might force the team to give up on this year’s championship challenge.
Fernando Alonso is now 41 points behind the championship leader Lewis Hamilton after retiring out of the Belgian Grand Prix. With just 6 races remaining, Ferrari’s latest updates at the Spa Francorchamps failed to improve their performance and left the car off the pace of both of their rivals McLaren and Red Bull in qualifying and the race.
“Should Monza go really badly and Red Bull's lead continues to increase, then on Monday we will begin to use all of our staff and resources for the project of next season's car,” Domenicali told Corriere dello Sport.
However, Stefano believes that the team has a better understanding of its car and updates and they plan to execute their strategy and win at Monza.
“Winning at Monza is not unthinkable, because we have understood where we went wrong with the improvements in Spa. We know now how to get the best from these parts,” Domenicali said.
He claims that a driver like Fernando Alonso is the perfect man to for the job and believes that he will not let the team down.
Fernando Alonso began his Formula 1 journey with Minardi in 2001 but was not able to score any points in his debut season. Fernando had to wait for a year before joining Renault in 2003 and made quite an impression in his very first year with the team after winning the first race of his career along with four podium positions and 2 pole positions to score 55 points to secure the 6th place. The Spaniard took his team to the top keeping in mind they did not have a very strong car that year. After another solid season with the team, Alonso amazed the spectators with his outstanding performance in 2005, when he won his first championship with 133 points with the help of 7 wins, 15 podiums and 6 pole positions. This was a shocking result as he was the first person to beat Michael Schumacher for the championship in 5 years and continued his dominance the following year as he successfully defended his title.
Fernando’s journey with the team ended after he signed with McLaren in 2007. This was a dream come true for the Spaniard as McLaren was his dream team but things did not work out his way. Alonso was doing a good job but conflicts between him and his teammate Lewis Hamilton lead the team to a disastrous second half. The 29 year old had to leave McLaren and returned to Renault for 2 more years. Renault was not able to perform up to the mark these 2 years but Alonso managed to sign with Ferrari for the year 2010. Fernando has not been able to perform consistently this year but he is still alive in the chase for the championship. Alonso is currently in 5th place with 141 points just 41 points behind leader Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren.
Alonso’s hopes shattered at the Spa Francorchamps as he had to retire but still has not lost his title hopes. However, if the Spaniard does not manage to finish in a good place at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza, his title hopes will surely come to an end and he will have to focus on the car and strategy for next season.
“Alonso reminds me very much of Schumacher. Since I've been with Ferrari, I have not seen a driver who has as strong a presence in Maranello, and follows all of our activities with the same conviction,” Stefano added.
Domenicali will have to face the FIA World Motor Sport Council this Wednesday over the controversy at German Grand Prix that team orders were followed, asking Felipe Massa to let Fernando Alonso pass to score the win and score some crucial points for the championship.
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