Q & A with Stefano Domenicali

Stefano Domenicali: First of all, in terms of strategic choices, considering the situation of the championship, we felt that what was clear from this year's experience was that the time spent on the [2008] car was not enough to be as quick as possible at the beginning of the season. And considering the situation, it was not possible to fight for the title. Without this priority, we knew we could have suffered in the second part of the season but we did a strategic choice that we hope will pay off next year.

Secondly, we don't have to forget that we improved the car in any case from our side. The car is better, it is really not so far away. We have seen we have had to be very cautious about the championship this year because it is very strange. We have seen a lot of up and down of the performance of the different cars, and for sure since Nurburgring have done a big step no doubt. They have invested and they have kept pushing on the development. That is their decision, and of course we respect them - but we took a different approach.

Then on top of this decision, we had unfortunately the situation with Felipe. I was pretty sure that with Felipe and Kimi, with the current condition of the car, we could fight with third place in the Constructors' Championship up to the end - no doubt.

Regarding Kimi, in the last two races he did a great performance. He did a really good race. Today he was fourth, he was pushing like hell to be third, and we kept him informed on the radio. We expect from him a great race in Belgium. We know he likes a lot this track, so that will give him a couple of tenths in his pocket. We never give up.

Q. What about Luca Badoer's performance? From the outside it looked very difficult.

SD: As I have said before, Ferrari cannot be satisfied with a car in last position. That is pretty clear, but we need to consider all the circumstances and everything that has happened. I think if you look behind it, for sure it was a difficult weekend for him.

In terms of race pace, if you look to compare to the other young drivers, you can make your opinion. He did a great start and then he was touched from behind so he lost a place, and then in terms of rhythm - everyone was worried this morning about his health, worried about that it was not possible for him to get to the finish and that he would have to go to the hospital. But he was very good.

Then we saw some parts of the race with the blue flags where it was difficult to keep the rhythm, then at the exit of the first pit stop when there was the situation with [Romain] Grosjean, it is just not being used to racing. I am expecting a big step next week.

Q. Badoer over the weekend has kept on referring to the fact that he was on a programme. Is he on a specific test programme for these races, or is he here to race?

SD: When he said he was on a programme, I think what he meant to say was that he had this weekend, in order to see where were the limits and what was the starting point. When you come into a racing environment, you have to learn so many things that are totally different from when you are doing the testing. So that is I think what he thought about that.

Of course, what was important for him was to finish this weekend. I think it was a massive relief to finish this weekend and I am sure he will have a totally different approach next weekend.

Q. Kimi said that he had one of the best qualifying sessions of the year in terms of how it went. Was there any particular breakthrough that you made in the way you worked with him?

SD: I think that Kimi really did a good qualifying, that is true, and the best apart from Monte Carlo where he was there on the first row. We discuss that in the week before the break, and also this week.

We have seen that we have lost a lot of our race, considering the fact that we are starting behind. Even if you do a good start and do a good jump, if you are sixth then the maximum you can do is like today and finish third. But if you are second, then you can really win the race.

The key point on our side is how you can really maximise the performance of qualifying, because if you look at the race pace over the last couple of races. It was good and consistent, and I would say that we were quite close with a reasonable race pace. A key factor with the race position is that unfortunately we have not had a great performance in qualifying. Maybe with the gaps we have now, even with a low fuel car, it is very difficult. We saw on Saturday - to be 10th or 15th is only a fraction. Then today showed how starting well can really pay off for the race. If you start much earlier , then we can have a go to win.

Q. You said that Luca Badoer would be in the car until Felipe Massa returns. Will that remain the case even if his performance does not improve over the next race or two?

SD: No. What I said exactly, to be precise, is that for us the first priority is to understand when Felipe Massa will come back. For sure it is an important race for Luca Badoer next weekend. We are expecting a big jump from him and then we will see.

Q. So should you not get that jump, is there nobody better that you can think of to put in that car?

SD: Well, I can think that being very clear, there are a lot of things that have been put on the table.

First of all, consider the situation that we had the objective when we decided not to go ahead with the development of this year's car, it was a moment where we felt with Kimi and Felipe in that shape, that we could fight for third position. Then unfortunately with this situation, and considering the gaps that we have now, it is very, very difficult for every driver to give a lot of points to the team in order to be able to match the power of the two McLarens. It seems they have done a big step.

So having the better position from 17th to 15th, or from 14th to eighth, it is always better no doubt. One of our objectives was to be third.

Then, you have to consider that if you put a young driver in, it is for the future. We are thinking for sure to see if we can work on a young driver programme for the future. We have already decided that but unfortunately after what has happened to us, where everything is going in a certain direction, which will be announced soon.

But there is another point we have to consider, with the testing limitation it is something that all the teams have to sort out. Also from the safety point of view it is not correct. We need to think through it carefully and that is what we need to address very soon.