Ferrari 'went for the victory'

Domenicali says at 'certain moment' gamble looked like it could work

Last Updated: June 10, 2012 11:15pm

Fernando Alonso: Pushed his soft tyres too far

Stefano Domenicali has defended Ferrari's decision to keep Fernando Alonso out on fast-fading tyres in the closing laps of the Canadian GP, insisting it was a gamble the team believed could pay off with race victory.

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The Italian team saw Alonso slip from first to fifth place in the space of the final six laps as the soft compound tyres fitted to the Spaniard's F2012 on lap 19 of 70 went far beyond their competitive life.

Alonso lost 13 seconds to race winner Lewis Hamilton, who had charged back into the lead having made a second stop, in the final five laps of the grand prix with his late slide also costing the Spaniard the lead of the World Championship to his McLaren rival.

But speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race, Ferrari's Team Principal said they opted to go all out for victory rather settling for a lesser position.

"We have tried. We have tried to win," Domeniciali told Sky Sports F1's Ted Kravitz.

"I think that at the first stop we did a good job in jumping Lewis but he was definitely faster than us.

"Then we tried to mark Vettel. At the certain moment we felt that the tyres could have lasted and then when you reach the cliff it was too late to pit."

Domenicali said both the pit-wall and Alonso himself had felt at one point that the tyres could last all the way to lap 70, pointing out that both Romain Grosjean and Sergio Perez ultimately made a one-stop strategy work to reach the podium.

"On the hindsight it's always easy to say it was clear. But at a certain stage, speaking also with Fernando, the tyre seems to last so we took the chance," he said.

"But if you see on the podium there is two drivers with one stop so...anyway. Good points, a little bit disappointed, but a lot of work to do at home."

The Italian added that, while Ferrari should be happy with the F2012's latest step forward this weekend, they obviously had work to do on tyre degradation.

"Anyway, for me, [it was a] disappointing race result. But it's good to see that the car has improved. We need to work now on the tyre degradation because without the tyre degradation at the end we could have been in a different position today," he said.

"But the championship is still there. Lewis is leading now, two points from Fernando, so let's see."