Maranello, 30 August


The day after a poor Belgian Grand Prix for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, the overriding sentiment in Maranello is that the weekend had been unsatisfactory. The team arrived in Belgium expecting to continue the trend that had seen its performance move forward as from Valencia and which, as from Hockenheim had also begun to deliver results, but the verdict from Spa, putting to one side all the external factors linked to the weather and incidents, was a negative one, especially in terms of the outcome of the race itself.


The usual Monday morning debrief, attended by President Luca di Montezemolo, centred on analysing the effects of the new components introduced on the F10 and the reasons why it proved impossible to make use of all the potential of the package. One can never count on new solutions that have never been track-tested before immediately delivering results: that has been the case several times this year for all the teams. On top of that, the changeable weather during Friday’s free practice certainly did not make the job any easier for the engineers. With this in mind, as well as in order to test the aerodynamic configuration to be used in the Italian Grand Prix, there will an aero test at the Vairano straight over the next few days. After the debrief, Montezemolo had a meeting with Team Principal Stefano Domenicali, as well has having lengthy telephone conversations with Felipe and Fernando.

The Monza round beckons and if the home race is always something special for the Scuderia, this year’s edition will be very important in terms of keeping alive the hope of fighting for the titles right to the end. Everyone in Maranello is aware that if more ground is lost, it could compromise any chance of a comeback. Therefore there is a strong desire, from the team, as well as the drivers, to make up for the Spa setback: the plan is to be in the fight for a victory at Monza, something which has not happened since 2006.