Todt: Ferrari needs to get its act together

Jean Todt has called on Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa to be podium perfect for the remainder of the season if the team are to have any chance of title glory. Raikkonen came home second in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix, slipping to 20 points behind race winner and Championship leader Lewis Hamilton. Team-mate Felipe Massa, meanwhile, is a further point down after finishing 13th, making up just one place from his grid position after a fuel problem in qualifying. Ferrari at least closed the gap on McLaren to 19 points in the Constructors' title race after their rivals had all team points docked following a controversial qualifying session. But time and races are running out for Ferrari, and with just six grands prix remaining the Maranello marque face coming away empty-handed for a third successive season.


"A second and 13th place are a meagre reward for this weekend," said Todt.
"There is a slight bitter taste at seeing how competitive we were in the race with Kimi, as it showed again that starting from the front is vital
"Of course, Felipe was even more heavily penalised because of the negative outcome of qualifying, given that he was constantly stuck in traffic. But we knew this track would not suit us that well. "Now we need to try to get both our drivers on the podium all the time to try to make up the gaps in both championships for the remaining third of the season. "We have all we need - the team, the car and drivers - but we have not always been able to put them all together to the best effect.

"If we don't manage it, the Championships will not be won."

Raikkonen is at least confident there will be an improvement after Formula One's traditional summer holiday, with the Turkish Grand Prix three weeks away. "I fought to the very end to try to win, but I never had a real chance to pass Hamilton," said the Finn. "Qualifying did not help. Clearly on some tracks we suffer a lot in qualifying and we have to understand why. "But in the coming races the situation should definitely be better, starting in Istanbul."


Massa, who suffered what he described as "a horrible race," will not be throwing in the towel despite the problems that continue to blight his chances and those of Raikkonen. "It's been a weekend to forget, but I have not lost confidence," insisted Massa. "We know we have a good car and we must return to winning as soon as possible, starting in Turkey. We must not give up."

Source: Planet-F1