Formula One news

Ferrari can recover, says president

Luca di Montezemolo is keen to respond to suggestions that his Ferrari team is already out of the running for this year's World Championship, after a disappointing start to the season which has seen the Scuderia claim no points from the first two races, for the first time since 1992.

Di Montezemelo was moved to Ferrari by Fiat in 1973

With both pre-season favourites Ferrari and rivals McLaren struggling in the first two races so far this year, the title race has been thrown wide open. However, Ferrari admits that its mistakes were chiefly strategy-based as opposed to technical issues, of which the Italian team has discussed in a meeting for over two and a half hours at base in Maranello.

"It would be a euphemism to say people here were very angry, but these same people are also very determined to react," di Montezemolo said after the meeting. "I brought with me a monk's hood to make everyone understand that we have to tackle this season with humility, and I made the point that I don't want to see us on some sort of TV comedy programme after each race. Joking apart, I know that this group is known for its strong sense of pride, and that will help us to get out of this situation."

Having fought back from difficult starts in seasons such as 2003, the team still believes that they can recovery their performance and compete at the front, although this season's issue over diffusers could make things more than a little difficult as Brawn, Toyota and Williams still appear to have a clear advantage.

"Our discussions are held in the locker room, as was the case in the days of Jean Todt and Ross Brawn, when were going through particularly tough times" the Ferrari president continued. "The team remains united and I have every confidence in it."

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