26/04/2009
NEWS STORY
Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo blames "bad rules" for his team's woeful start to its 2009 campaign.
The Italian, who also heads the Formula One Teams' Association, remains, like several other team bosses, deeply critical of the way certain aspects of the governance of the sport have been handled, particularly the diffuser row.
"We have seen very bad written rules, what I call grey rules, with different interpretations," he told reporters before the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Referring to his team's start to the season, the worst start to a championship since 1981, he said: "Sometimes when you win too much, you think you are the best. I want a different attitude.
"I think that inside the team there has been a little too much of a presumptuous approach," he continued. "Sometimes to put the head down to the ground is useful to looking ahead. Sometimes having your whole head, feet, everything on the ground, and even more underground, is better."
Some are fearful that the massive changes at Ferrari, precipitated by the departure of Michael Schumacher, then Rory Byrne, Ross Brawn and eventually Jean Todt mark the end of the Italian outfit's latest 'golden age' and that the team will return to the championship wilderness it inhabited for much of the time between 1980 and 1998.
"Of course I am totally unhappy but since 1992 the stability of the team and confidence in the team has been my main goal," di Montezemolo insisted. "This team is exactly the same team that crossed the line in Brazil a few months ago winning the championship, so there is no problem. When I know the reason for the problems I am confident. When I don't I am worried. I know the reason."
The reason, according to the Italian is that the raft of new rules introduced by the FIA came at a time when his team was fighting for both 2008 titles with McLaren. While rival teams were able to able to 'write off' 2008, his team and McLaren were forced to concentrate all their efforts on the championship fights, a move which has benefited some teams this season, particularly when it comes to the interpretation of some of the new rules..
"If teams that have won the last three championships like Renault, McLaren, Ferrari or important teams like BMW or even Red Bull have done one interpretation it means the rules are not so clear," he said, referring to the recent diffuser controversy.