Ferrari's second place is under jeopardy, admits Stefano Domenicali

Stefano Domenicali

Ferrari team Principal Stefano Domenicali has admitted that the team’s second place in the constructors’ championship will be under jeopardy unless they step up their game.

Ferrari is currently 10 points ahead of Mercedes but Domenicali believes that with four races remaining the team could slip if they slow down.

“The fight from now on with Mercedes and Lotus is coming up. It is very tight, and we need to make sure we can improve the car. And we can do it. We need to improve qualifying, which we know is quite difficult. As we see, everything is dictated by the position at the start and, after the first couple of laps, a lot depends on how you are able to manage the traffic,” he said.

“In Japan, when we were behind the train of [Daniel] Ricciardo with the hard tyres, it was difficult to pass, and we were lapping around three seconds slower than the quicker cars that were in front. If we want to keep fighting, it is important that we try to improve the car. There are some things that we can bring for the next couple of races, and we need to try to improve the qualifying,” he added.

Despite admitting that the team needs a push this season, Dominicali added that the team will not shift its attention away from the 2014 project.

“We still have something to bring on the track that we will try, but the technical office is totally dedicated to next year’s project,” he said.