Team Ferrari: We made "Blunders"

FERRARI chief Stefano Domenicali has admitted the team made THREE blunders that cost Fernando Alonso the world title. And in a crushing confession, he said of the Abu Dhabi finale: "It was probably our worst race of the season.

"Ferrari's main mistake was obvious. In covering championship rival Mark Webber's early pit stop, they forgot about the challenge being mounted by runaway race leader Sebastian Vettel. But team principal Domenicali added: "We were also unduly concerned about the wear rate of the soft tyres and we did not take into consideration the difficulty of getting past other cars on the track."The flawed strategy left Alonso mired in midfield and unable to get by a line of cars ahead of him. He eventually finished seventh as Vettel, who pitted much later after a long run on soft tyres, sailed to victory and the world championship. Domenicali said: "There is great sadness at the moment, because to come so close to our goal and to see it slip away for just a few points really hurts."Alonso preferred to look to the future rather than dwell on the catastrophic cock-ups.

The Spaniard said: "This is still a great season. There have been some very intense months and I found myself in a team that has an amazing atmosphere."Now there is some sadness but I am sure with a clear head we will begin to appreciate better what we have achieved."We have to continue like that, staying united, determined, and we have to face next year with the same will to win."Ferrari's devastated president Luca di Montezemolo refused to admonish Domenicali and his pit-wall lieutenants. He said: "Our morale is low after the conclusion to this season, but that's sport."We had everything in place to win the title with Fernando but things did not go our way."All the same, I want to publicly thank the team for being capable of getting to the final round still in the fight for the drivers' title, and for staging a comeback which in July almost everyone considered an impossible task."Domenicali has done a great job, keeping the team united at all times, even in the toughest moments."It will take us a little while to get over this disappointment but we have to keep our heads up and be proud of what we have done.

















stefano domenicali