Ferrari’s new chief executive officer, Sergio Marchionne, has described returning to the front of the Formula 1 grid “not negotiable” and of the highest priority.
Marchionne, who also heads up Ferrari’s parent company Fiat-Chrysler, removed long-term boss Luca di Montezemolo from the top role in order to oversee major changes at the Italian marque in order to see them return to competitive form.
During a press conference on Thursday, he highlighted Ferrari’s power unit as the main issue which needs resolving and insisted they would get to the bottom of the problem.
“We know the problem,” he said. “We have a power unit problem. I have faith in Ferrari and its sporting arm, and that it will be able to resurrect as it did in the past. The sporting arm continues to be an essential element for Ferrari. We’ll work in order to try to win, because it’s part of this company’s DNA.
“The important thing is to get back to winning ways, this is essential. The problem is not about the problem we have here on the market. We need to give credibility to Ferrari on the track and fixed on that we need to return to the top. That will give us support to Ferrari. Winning on the track is something that is not negotiable. We must get there, and I don’t have the slightest doubt we’ll be able to do it.”
Outgoing Di Montezemolo was also present and he too has no doubt Ferrari will return to the top soon enough.
“This is a very important day for me,” he added. “Ferrari means culture. Ferrari means passion. Ferrari means to look ahead. That’s precisely what we have tried to do throughout these years on all fronts.
“We must have some regrets for not having won the title in 2010 and 2012. I consider the last two seasons negative. We have two world champions: from Kimi [Raikkonen] we expect a strong end of season, while Fernando [Alonso] is the strongest driver in the races. We must develop a competitive car, the rest is just talk.
“Any second thoughts on the past? Certainly not concerning the drivers. But as far as technicians yes, because as I said earlier we had a lack of specific knowledge in the power unit project.”
Discussion about this post