Stefano Domenicali: “We have to believe in ourselves…”

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali says that he and the rest of the team are fully motivated after the summer break, but concedes that the chances of fighting for the title are slim, and thus race wins are the target.

“Everyone seems to be like me, very motivated with batteries fully charged for the rest of the season,” he said on the Ferrari website. “We share the same state of mind, ready to return to the race tracks.

“Our realistic goal for the remaining eight Grands Prix is to win races, to score as many points as possible. I am sure we can achieve good results, but we should avoid looking at the classification, because we know the championship will be very difficult given the current gap, but let’s see where it is in a few races.

“We have the potential to do well and we have to believe in ourselves. In terms of the development of the 150º Italia, we are almost at the end of the road but this does not mean that work on this year’s car has come to a complete halt, but as of now, we are working full throttle on the 2012 car.”

Domenicali has reiterated that next year’s car will be more innovative than other recent Ferraris. “As far as next year’s regulations are concerned, apart from rules regarding the exhaust system, there are not many changes, therefore the new cars can be described as a development of the 2011 car.

“However, what I can say, having seen the model in the wind tunnel and the work going on in the drawing office, is that it will be a very innovative machine. In fact, this is to be expected, this is necessary given that our first goal is that, in 2012, we must be competitive right from the very start of the season.”

Domenicali also paid tribute to Michael Schumacher on his 20^th anniversary: “This will be a special weekend for him as he celebrates 20 years in Formula 1, which means he is part of the history of the sport and also part of its present. As his seven world titles prove, he is the best driver the sport has seen and is very much in the hearts of everyone at Ferrari and all of us wish him well on this special occasion.”