“Time goes by, and in a few years' time I will retire too,” Di Montezemolo was quoted as saying to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport. The Ferrari CEO insisted that the 'old guard' leaving the sport is only a natural progression of the renovation process that Formula 1 needs to face in the upcoming years.
“I've known Ecclestone since 1973, and I think he's done a great job. But a few years ago we argued: I called him greedy because of the revenues which were distributed 70 percent for him and 30 percent for all the teams. Now we are 50-50. We'll have to do something more, we'll see. What's certain is that the time to divide and conquer to rule in F1 is over,” announced the Ferrari boss.
Di Montezemolo has been one of the key figures that helped Ferrari re-conquer the world of Formula 1 in recent years. Following his taking over the marque's F1 operations, Ferrari has won no less than 8 manufacturers' titles and 6 drivers' titles in the last 10 years.
Also talking about the future, this time Ferrari's, the Italian official gave another boost of confidence to Felipe Massa following his losing the F1 title by a single point last season.
“Let's make this clear: he (Lewis Hamilton) is a great driver, able to get within a whisker of the title in his first year in F1 and winning it on his second. However, with all due respect, I wouldn't change him with Felipe Massa. If Massa didn't win it this year it's our fault. It would have been normal for him to win it, but he didn't because of our errors. Felipe is extremely popular, for the man he is, for the great driver he's demonstrated to be, and for the beautiful way he lost this championship,” concluded Di Montezemolo.
Google News