Arrivabene: I learned to be a Ferrari man

Ferrari’s Christmas press lunch is an opportunity to meet and exchange seasons greetings, but it’s also an opportunity to offer up an appraisal of the past Formula One year and talk a little bit about the future.

“2015 was a great season,” said President Sergio Marchionne. “The only regret might be that we could have done even better but for a handful of mistakes.

But overall, I am very pleased, considering where we started from this year, as that is the real reference point. In any case, I have great respect for our competitors and it will only be at the first race in Australia that we will see how things really stand.”

Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal, Maurizio Arrivabene delivered a clear and honest assessment of his first season in this role at Maranello:

“I learned to be a Ferrari man and what it means to work in this company. Then, over the course of the season, my role was simply to unite the team, to ensure that everyone, in their various departments, spoke to one another. When it comes to next season, there is no way one should start from the supposition that ‘we are making a step forward, therefore we will win.’ That’s partly because we finished second and therefore we need to start from the basis of what the winners will do, how much they will progress, especially as they dominated the past two seasons. And that is our aim. The new car? We are working on it and we are doing so with great professionalism, but above all with respect towards those who have already won.”

Finally, President Marchionne had a word to say on the topic of the drivers: “With every passing day Sebastian Vettel has become more of a Ferrari man and, from mid-season on, Kimi Raikkonen made a significant change for the better.”