Ferrari - Renault are not unstoppable 12 Jun 2006
Ferrari team boss Jean Todt believes that Renault can still be beaten this season, despite Fernando Alonso’s crushing victory in Sunday’s British Grand Prix.
Michael Schumacher finished second to Alonso, but was 14 seconds adrift of the Spaniard at the chequered flag. Team mate Felipe Massa came home fifth, over ten seconds behind the McLaren of Kimi Raikkonen and Giancarlo Fisichella’s Renault.
Ferrari may have failed to match Renault’s pace at the high-speed Silverstone circuit, but Todt believes his team’s 248 F1 car will prove very strong at Montreal and Indianapolis, venues for the forthcoming Canadian and US Grands Prix.
"We are going to test some new developments, some new adaptations to the car next week,” he said. “Those two circuits are very quick circuits and we have a very efficient car, so I think we should be competitive, but how competitive the others will be we will see that when we are there.”
Even if Ferrari can get on top of Renault in North America, the team still have a mountain to climb if they are to overhaul their rivals' current 31-point advantage in the constructors’ championship.
In a bid to close the gap, Ferrari will be testing this week at the Paul Ricard circuit in France, with Massa and test driver Luca Badoer working on tyres, set-up and new parts. Renault will be running at Monza in Italy.
