No favouritism at Ferrari insists. Todt
Ferrari boss Jean Todt has said there are no plans to favour one of their drivers over the other in order to maximise the teamâs chances of winning the 2007 world championship.
Todtâs comments come after Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen finished one-two in Sundayâs Turkish Grand Prix. With five races to go, the Ferrari duo - led by Massa, on 69 points to Raikkonenâs 68 - trail championship leader Lewis Hamilton by 15 points.
"At the moment there is no plan to make any kind of strategy between one or the other driver," Todt told Ferrariâs official website. "It would be something that would be inappropriate. Our drivers are doing such a good job, after 12 Grands Prix, with just one point difference.â
Ferrari, like McLaren, have won six races this year, though the Italian team trail their British rivals by 11 points in the constructorsâ championship. Todt, however, praised his drivers and said the team had to take much of the responsibility for the gap.
âMost of the problems they had were because of some mistakes that we did,â he said. âThey made some mistakes, but that is normal. We are all human.â
He continued: âBoth are doing a very good job. There is a very good harmony in the team, they both want to win and there is definitely the same chance. Like Kimi, Felipe is superb."
As a result, Todt is confident that winning one or both 2007 titles remains a possibility: âWe feel the championship is still open. It will be tough, but it is always tough. And as I always said, we will try the best until the end and I believe we still can carry this on."
He also dismissed speculation that he could step down at the end of this season, regardless of the championship outcome.
"I am not at all prepared to retire,â he said. âI still feel very motivated, with the same anxiety before every race, the same happiness when we are successful, the same unhappiness when we are not successful. So I hope I can be here a few more years.â