Domenicali has great faith in Pat Fry

Among the many topics Stefano Domenicali discussed while chatting with journalists at Wrooom Summer 2011, obviously there was talk of what are the Scuderia’s real chances of taking a world title this season. “I always try and think positive,” said the Ferrari Team Principal. “We believe in our chances and will continue to do so until it is a mathematical impossibility. Of course, we need to win races and maybe something could change. We could have done that already in this last bit of the season, but we know how that went and why. However, ifs and buts change nothing, so it is better to concentrate on the future.

The team shares this spirit and reacted in the right way to a difficult start to the season, which saw an important restructuring of our organisation. You won’t hear me denying that the better results in this second quarter of the year are also down to the efforts of those like Costa who are no longer with the team, but I am also the first to recognise the impact that Fry has had in his new role. It has been very positive and has accelerated things nicely. Pat now has the chance to show what he is capable of, to set out the work according to his methodology and I can tell he is very motivated and I have great faith in him. Now our structure remains substantially stable: if an opportunity comes along to get someone really worthwhile, well then good, but the real secret is in finding the right combination of people, jobs and the character of the individuals. For example, I see a great relationship between Pat and Nikolas Tombazis, along with the support that comes from the amazing experience of an extraordinary man like Rory Byrne, who continues to be extremely valuable to us, even though he has been working only part time for several years now.”

Domenicali also looked to the long term in terms of the growth of the team. “Formula 1 has changed so much over the past five years. We have gone from a period in which heavy spending was the key to success to one where budgets are limited, as are one’s structures. We had already started this process of change before the past two years, but maybe it’s true that the success obtained by this group in 2007 and 2008 (two Constructors’ and one Drivers’ title) subconsciously made people a bit more resistant to change, as is normal if you are winning. In the future, it will be important to maintain close links with the universities, to pick out young talent and make them grow within the team and also for the mechanics, it will be important to create a true college to hone their skills. I think this is the key for the Scuderia over the next ten years, rather than going down the route of having a B team. In fact, already today we are bringing people on in some areas such as engine and gearbox, thanks to our customer teams.”