Montezemolo says Ferrari cannot give up on 2011 championships

The Italian squad is yet to win a race this season, with Fernando Alonso's second place in the European Grand Prix as its best result so far in eight races.

The Spaniard is 99 points behind championship leader Sebastian Vettel, while Ferrari is 166 behind Red Bull in the constructors' standings.

Despite the gap, di Montezemolo says Ferrari must keep pushing all year to try to win and reduce the distance to the top.

"In the past few days, I have gone over the situation with Stefano Domenicali and his engineers," said di Montezemolo.

"We are working flat out and one can see improvements compared to the early races and this is partly down to adopting a different approach to the development of the car.

"We know the situation in both championships is very difficult, but I don't want to hear any talk of giving in: we must try to progress continuously and to fight for the win at every race, which is a must for Ferrari.

"Obviously, we have also started talking about the 2012 car, which is normal for this time of year. I have faith in what Domenicali and his team are doing and I am convinced we will see the results of their work."

The Italian also admitted he was pleased with the show provided by Formula 1 so far this year, and praised Pirelli's contribution.

"I think that it's been a positive start to the season for Formula 1. I have to say the races are all unpredictable and full of overtaking and interesting for the public, both in the grandstands and in front of the television, right to the end. That was one of the objectives this sport had set itself and I believe it has been reached.

"I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Pirelli on its return to Formula 1. In fact, I'm not surprised: we have a great relationship with them and we have known them for a long time, given that historically they have been one of our suppliers for our extreme high performance road cars."