Team principal Stefano Domenicali was the first to acknowledge the fact that last season was a terrible one, and the only way his team could get back on track would be to focus on the 2010 challenger earlier than the other competitors. However, in order for his masterpiece to be complete, the new car was expected to hit the front from the get go, which eventually happened last weekend.
“For sure this race is very important for the team. After a difficult season like last year, and after a very difficult decision that we had to take last year, everyone was ready with the gun to fire. But that is part of the game. This is the reason why I have to take certain responsibility. It is good because it shows that the decision was right,” said Domenicali.
Another important decision made by Ferrari in the wake of the Bahrain race was to equip both Felipe Massa's and Fernando Alonso's car with a different engine as compared to the one they'd used in practice and qualifying. Ferrari revealed in a statement that the change was made due to some abnormal parameters on their engines on Saturday.
As risky as this move may have seemed to many – this is only the start of the season and all drivers are designated an overall 8 powerplants in 2010 – it eventually helped the Scuderia win the race. Ironically, Sebastian Vettel lost the chance to start the season with a comfortable win due to an engine problem that hit him with a third of a race to go.
Nevertheless, Domenicali insisted that there is still a long way to go in the championship and reckoned that Red Bull and McLaren Mercedes are two of the teams that will undoubtedly strike back in the races to come.
“Red Bull Racing and McLaren are all strong because now we will see who will do a different step of development, who will come with new things sooner than the others, and we need to see what is the situation with the tires in the future in different grands prix, different configurations, different temperatures,” added the Ferrari principal.
Google News