Maranello, 20 April – The plane, which brought back the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s drivers and technicians landed this morning in Nice. From there everybody went home, while the most fortunate was Felipe Massa, who was welcomed by his wife Raffaela and son Felipinho just about half an hour later, because at the moment the Brazilian driver lives with his family in Monaco. Meanwhile Fernando’s journey will still last for a bit, because he has to get to Switzerland.
Felipe and Fernando have been informed about the speculations in some news outlets regarding the consequences on their relationship after the event at the pit lane entrance at the Chinese GP last Sunday. Although they were quite tired after the long trip, both drivers wanted to clear the situation on the official Ferrari website: “As it happens quite often, there’s always someone who wants to create some confusion,” Felipe said. “The situation between me and Fernando is the one it always has been and an overtaking manoeuvre won’t change it for sure. I already explained after the race what happened and I think it’s useless doing it again, but obviously there’s someone who doesn’t want to understand. If I’ve spoken to Fernando? Sure, just like we talk to each other every day when we’re on the track. We both know very well what Ferrari wants from us drivers and what we have to do on the track.”
“I’m surprised by what I’ve been told,” Fernando added. “I already said it in Shanghai: this episode is creating a stir just because it happened between two teammates. If the other car would have been green or grey, we’d all be celebrating this manoeuvre, but instead we’re just losing time with polemics, where there is nothing to say. Felipe and I are racing and we know that the team’s interest is the most important thing. We know how to behave and we’ve shown it on other occasions during these first races. It’s definitely not the duels on the track, creating problems inside the team and I know this by experience. If someone wants to make a fuss, it definitely won’t ruin the spirit of Ferrari.”
Meanwhile the Scuderia’s technicians have the longest trip ahead. They left Nice in a coach, taking them back to Maranello, where they will arrive in the evening. The rest of the team is still in Shanghai, but the men and women should leave between today and tomorrow morning. The F10s and all the material used during the Grand Prix have still to wait a little bit longer: at the moment the material is not expected in Maranello before Friday. Everything depends on Eyjafjollajokull, the Icelandic volcano, blocking air traffic almost all over Europe, forcing travellers to make exceptionally long trips to reach their final destinations.
Source: Ferrari.com
