Montezemolo remains 'concerned', worried rivals will redouble efforts
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has expressed his 'concern' despite Fernando Alonso's third win of the year in Germany, a result that help strengthen the Spaniard's lead in the F1 2012 drivers' championship.
Alonso heads to Hungary this weekend with a 34 point cushion over his nearest rival, Mark Webber, but while the Spaniard's form and the ever improving pace of the Ferrari F2012 is a real positive, Montezemolo remains guarded, singling out McLaren, Red Bull Racing, Lotus and Sauber as key threats, although interestingly, not Mercedes.
"I am concerned, more so than the day after Valencia [when Fernando also won and became the first repeat winner of the season]," Montezemolo told Ferrari's official website ahead of the eleventh round in the championship this weekend at the Hungaroring.
"I see very strong opponents: McLaren has made great progress, Red Bull is very strong, Sauber had a race pace that was a match for ours and Lotus is very strong at times.
"Therefore, we have to be very careful: after we had a difficult start to the season, maybe our rivals did not expect to see Ferrari capable of fighting back this strongly, but now they will redouble their efforts to beat us.
"Therefore, we must stay very focussed and continue our efforts to improve continuously."
Montezemolo meanwhile paid tribute to team principal Stefano Domenicali and all at the Scuderia for turning things around.
"I want to tell you I am proud of you. When I watched you applauding the drivers, I was thinking that I am lucky to work with people like you, people who have known how to work without fuss, with ability and determination to redress the difficult situation at the start of the season, which was not at the level of the name Ferrari.
"I want to take this opportunity to thank Domenicali for his work [too]. When, a few years ago, it was decided to go for a man who had grown from within the company, there were some who turned up their noses. But today I am pleased to see a true leader of a team that is doing well, which is what I want and which is worthy of the name Ferrari."
