STEFANO DOMENICALI Post Australian GP Interview **SPOILER**

(from autosport)


Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali says the Italian squad are staying cool following their worst start to a Formula One season in more than a decade.

Neither world champion Kimi Raikkonen nor his Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa managed to finish the race, both men being hit by engine problems as rivals McLaren dominated the race thanks to Lewis Hamilton.

Raikkonen eventually scored a point following the disqualification of Honda's Rubens Barrichello.

Despite the dismal weekend, Domenicali says the team need to stay calm and analyse their problems in order to bounce back in Malaysia next weekend.

"The result speaks for itself," Domenicali told reporters after the race. "Unfortunately it was a dreadful weekend. Nothing went as planned, so it was difficult. But if you remember in 2006 we had a similar start with the two DNFs and we were able to catch up again.

"We weren't phenomenal guys before this race and we are not stupid after it, so we really need to analyze in all the details what has happened. And of course the main concern is to understand the reliability problems. We had two engines fail so this is the main issue to understand.

"But we need to stay cool, calm and concentrated. We need not be too emotional now because it's very easy to go down that route. We need to stay very rational."

Ferrari endured a similar Australian Grand Prix in 2006, with both their drivers failing to finish.

Domenicali admitted the team were caught by surprise by their reliability problems.

"It was a surprise after so many kilometers we did in the winter. We need to understand why exactly did that happen," he added.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said the result was healthy for the team to keep their feet on the ground.

"It was a healthy dose of humility, which is healthy for everyone," he said in a statement. "I'm looking forward to Malaysia when I expect to see the real Ferrari."

 

(excerpt from autosport race report)

"Lewis Hamilton took a commanding victory in the Australian Grand Prix on a disastrous day for title rivals Ferrari.

BMW's Nick Heidfeld and Williams' Nico Rosberg completed the podium, while both Ferraris retired with mechanical problems after a series of errors by drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa."




(excerpt from Ron Dennis post Australian GP interview)


McLaren boss Ron Dennis is convinced Ferrari will bounce back from their disastrous weekend in Australia.

"I think every Grand Prix team experiences difficult weekends," Dennis told reporters after the race.

"They have got a lot of depth and we are under no illusions that they will come back and will be very competitive in Malaysia and the rest of the season."