Domenicali downplays Ferrari dominance

Monday 12th May 2008

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali has downplayed the Scuderia's dominance, saying rivals McLaren are closer than they may appear.

Having lost the first grand prix of the season in Australia, Ferrari fought back to clinch four victories on the trot. The wins have been equally divided between Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa and included back-to-back 1-2s in Bahrain and Spain.

The Italian stable's run of form has put them at the top of the Constructors' Championship where they hold a 19-point lead over BMW. Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa also occupy the top two places in the Drivers' Standings.

But despite hints of an era of Ferrari dominance, Domenicali insists McLaren are a lot closer to Ferrari than the numbers suggest.

"Well, I don't think it's correct to say that we are dominating because if you look at the Championship, the situation is very close," Domenicali said.

"It was important for us to react after the first grand prix in Australia, with only one point scored at the end, but once again, it's not dominating. Today's race shows that our competitors are very very close."

Sunday's Turkish GP in fact saw Lewis Hamilton take second place off Raikkonen despite being forced to adopt a three-stop strategy, which is estimated to add a penalty of about five seconds compared with a two-stopper.

However, the Scuderia boss reckons Ferrari will have to deal with more than just McLaren when the F1 circus stops in Monte Carlo in two weeks time.

"I think the next two races, Monte Carlo and also Canada we need to react because last year was very difficult for us," he said.

"We have prepared the race with a different approach. We will also see next week in Paul Ricard where we have some tests to see if what we have prepared is going in the right way.

"I think that not only McLaren will be strong, I am expecting Renault, BMW of course to be strong again, above all on the track where qualifying can be different, you can be aggressive but then even if you are longer at that circuit, everything will be different, so I think Monte Carlo will be a very important race for everyone."

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