Ferrari’s Stefano Domencali is particular focused on harder work to seek a higher level of reliability. Last year, as he points out, could be boiled down to a lost title due to an engine failure in one race. While hindsight is always 20/20, there is some truth in that statement and F1 often boils down to a few points and missed opportunities. knowing this, Stefano has asked the team to raise the bar on reliability and to iron out the potential pitfalls for Oz.
“Over the last days I’ve been to Barcelona to follow the last stages of the test sessions and I’ve seen a very concentrated and determined team,” he said.
“We’re satisfied with the level of our car as far as the performance is concerned. It’s obvious that we still have some work to do and that we have to concentrate on its reliability.
“Last year we’ve seen how important reliability and the smallest details are. We have to work much harder in this direction.”
An interview wouldn’t be complete if the journo didn’t ask the other teams about the impressive pace of Brawn GP:
“I don’t want you to think that I’m avoiding an answer, but it’s more difficult than ever to say anything about the levels on the track,” said Domenicali.
“Until a couple of days ago there was a great equilibrium between the different teams – some expected and some a bit less – and then there was Brawn GP’s exploit; their performance was incredibly surprising and they have to be watched with care.
“We think that we’re part of the more competitive teams, but there are still many unknown factors to consider. We have to wait for Melbourne to get the answers.”
Interesting choice of words here from Stefano. The word ‘exploit’ has me wondering if Ferrari don’t feel Brawn GP was running some laps on fuel vapors to impress sponsors with smok and mirrors but even so, one can still make an argument that the Brawn is fast and looks to be something more than Honda F1 could ever produce. We will see in Oz if Brawn has what it takes to hang with Ferrari and more importantly, we will see if the Ferrari’s can finish the race.
