 AFP photo |
Ferrari's main focus for the new Formula One season is getting off to a strong start and avoiding even the possibility of finishing the way it did in 2010.
Speaking at Ferrari's annual winter retreat in the Italian Dolomites on Wednesday, team director Stefano Domenicali said too much focus has been made on the strategic errors the team made in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that concluded 2010, whereas an even larger problem was failing to gain points early on.
"You have got to be rational," Domenicali said. "We lost the championship because we didn't get key points in the first half of the season and that resulted in us entering the end of the season in that situation.
"We have to start this year competitive right away, because if you don't in this competitive state it becomes very tough."
Ferrari will introduce its 2011 car on Jan. 28 and the season begins with the Bahrain GP on March 13.
Fernando Alonso entered the final race of 2010 leading the drivers' standings but Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel won the title after a series of strategic errors by the Italian team.
Domenicali likened the feeling after the Abu Dhabi race to what France felt after a penalty shootout loss to Italy in the 2006 World Cup final.
"If you were in the France dressing room I think you can imagine the atmosphere," he said. "We didn't take what was on table and it was a big pity for all of us."
Since Domenicali replaced Jean Todt at the end of the 2007 season, Ferrari has not won a drivers' title, and in the last two years it hasn't won any championships at all - drivers' or constructors'.
"Our goal has got to be both titles," Domenicali said, adding that he expects Alonso to be faster from the start in his second season with Ferrari, and significant improvement from Felipe Massa, who appears to have lost his edge after a life-threatening accident at the Hungarian GP in 2009.
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