Montezemolo: I witnessed a great team

Luca di Montezemolo made a lightning visit to the Catalunya Circuit today, his first track appearance of 2013. The Ferrari President had decided to come and support the Scuderia on this Saturday of the Spanish Grand Prix. It was also an opportunity for him to have various meetings at the highest level, from Bernie Ecclestone to the main technical and commercial partners of the Maranello marque, to get an overview on many topics, starting with the current state of Formula 1.

Meeting the media after qualifying, Montezemolo had this to say on what the two Prancing Horse cars achieved today and the prospects for tomorrow. “I witnessed a great team, very focussed on its work. All in all, I am not disappointed and what gives me cause for hope is the race pace we showed yesterday. Maybe today we could have hoped for a little bit more, at least one car on the second row. We were losing a bit of time in the final sector, but we saw that, apart from Rosberg, everyone is very evenly matched. Fernando will start from the clean side of the track and here, the straight leading down to the first corner is very long, so maybe some places can be made up right from the start.”

On the topic of the future of Formula 1, Montezemolo expressed himself thus: “I can only repeat what I have maintained for so long: this sport must remain a true laboratory of cutting edge technology and advanced research and must serve as a training ground for our engineers. I think there will be some interesting changes in the near future and I will do my utmost to ensure we go in that direction.”

Montezemolo also wanted to wish Pat Fry a speedy recovery, after the Englishman was admitted to hospital in Barcelona this morning with appendicitis. It’s also a time for happier wishes as the Scuderia’s Team Principal, Stefano Domenicali turns 48 today.

Before leaving the circuit around 5pm, Montezemolo went to the Race Control tower where he met with Charlie Whiting.