Stefano Domenicali admits that Ferrari took a big risk in leaving Fernando Alonso out with a damaged front wing after his first lap touch with Sebastian Vettel in Malaysia.
The team hoped that it would stay in place for four or five laps and take the Spaniard into the window for the switch to dry tyres, but it came off and went under the car at the start of the second lap, sending Alonso off the road.
While there was some logic to the decision to stay out Ferrari sources admit that the team had been too greedy, adding that some of those involved in the decision couldn’t actually see the TV pictures that clearly indicated that the wing was not just damaged but was askew and already dragging along the track.
“I think at the end of the day I think we took a risk that was quite high, and didn’t pay off,” said Domenicali. “After the touch the race of course I would say in those conditions is not over, but almost over. And considering the situation where there was this transition from wet to dry that was coming in… In normal conditions it was very obvious that you come in and do the stop, no doubt. In this condition of transition if you believe that the wing can stay alive or survive, you try to take the time, because here as we know the track is getting dry very quickly, so you may have the chance to pit first with the dry tyres and be the hero of the weekend.
“But unfortunately the wing didn’t say there. Effectively it didn’t move out, it just went under, so we couldn’t go back to the pits. That was the thinking behind it, to be very open.
“The decision was from the pit wall. Fernando of course, he was feeling the car, but you cannot really see exactly the damage from the point of view that he has in the car. As always it’s something where we take responsibility as a team. It was unfortunate.”
As for Alonso’s reaction, Domenicali added: “I think that Fernando is very mature. He’s not happy of course about the result, because it’s zero points in the championship, it’s very heavy. He’s very mature, he’s looking forward, positive, because he feels that we have something to play with. It is a shame when you lose important points in these conditions, but he’s totally focussed now, looking forward to the next one.”
Domenicali stressed that it was important to move on.
“It was a shame because I think that today we could have taken good points out of the race. That’s why it’s important to close this Sunday, not positive, and looking ahead. I believe the championship is very long, we see that the performance of the others is very good, but we have also seen during these two races there were so many different performances between different cars in different conditions that it’s almost impossible to understand something.
“I see a lot of overreaction from other teams on the tyres, another thing in my view that it’s better to stay cool and calm about, as always in life. It’s a shame because after this Sunday I believe we could have taken much more points, but let’s move on and target China, because it will be another important Grand Prix.”
Regarding Ferrari’s place in the current pecking order, he said: “I don’t know exactly where, but for surely between the leaders. There are tracks where our car will perform better, there are certain tracks where some others will perform better than ours. For sure Red Bull is still the strongest at the moment, but we will see. Mercedes has done a step, Lotus is very competitive, it will an interesting and challenging season, but we will be there, no doubt.”
Adam Cooper F1 
Massa’s pace was fine and on par with the leaders after they switched to slick tyres, just a bit of a mystery why he was a bit slow in the first stint. Of course it didn’t help that he got blocked by the Alonso/Vettel incident and lost a lot of momentum…
There should have been no question of staying out. The danger to the affected car & others around it of a front wing going under the car are clearly substantial. If a wing is loose at one of the pillars, rather than just an endplate coming off, then the teams should be obliged to pit the car the 1st time it passes the pits or be subject to a penalty / black flag.
Not everyone at Ferrari agreed with the decision, I was watching the race with BBC Five Live (radio) audio, and shortly after the crash they cut to Jennie Gow, who said:
“… it was fascinating, as the car of Fernando Alonso went past the pit entry and decided not to come in, I saw one of his mechanics lift his arms on both sides, put them back down as if to say ‘why didn’t he come in?’ It was very Italian, it was a brilliant moment…”
You can hear that and the aftermath here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rfx55
at 23:40
In my opinion, staying out was not an option. I cannot remember a more surprising decision in 20 years of watching F1, I was stunned. But to say some of those involved in the decision couldn’t actually see the TV pictures … words fail me!
Considering the talking point of the sport presently is all team orders, they should have got Massa in and handed his car to Alonso.
You know, I wonder if that could still be done as far as the sporting regulations are concerned. It’s probably a bad idea given how the cars are tuned and set up for each driver, but if anyone could adapt its Alonso. Felipe would be spitting nails about it, but he’d probably comply with the order.
No risk, no reward.. However, if we could see the wing dragging, could not the team as well? What is done is done, press on!!!
That’s the down side to the team principles making the decisions, sometimes they’re wrong, sometimes they take a chance, gamble and come a cropper. Its easy to say now but if that wing had held on a little longer it would have been considered genious. Now it will be filed under ‘stupid Ferrari moves’ right next to not getting out of Q1 because they misjudged the time, badly timed pitstop which cost Alonso at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and pretending to not get the memo from race control on which wet tyres to be using at the start of a race. The file is long and amusing in hindsight.