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'We must keep our feet on the ground' - di Montezemolo

ESPNF1 Staff
October 25, 2010 « Korea vows to solve problems for 2011 | »
Fernando Alonso won the Korean Grand Prix to take the lead in the drivers' championship © Sutton Images
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Ferrari is not underestimating its rivals Red Bull and McLaren heading into the final two rounds of the season, despite Fernando Alonso taking an 11 point lead in the drivers' championship with victory at the Korean Grand Prix.

Both Red Bulls retired from Sunday's race while McLaren's Jenson Button dropped out of contention in the title race and Lewis Hamilton finished runner-up to Alonso.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo and team principal Stefano Domenicali have played down the significance of the result and told their team to remain focused.

"Now we must keep our feet on the ground," di Montezemolo said. "The championship is still very open and we know we are up against very strong opponents. We will have to tackle the final two races with even higher levels of concentration, paying attention to every little detail."

Domenicali also called for calm and warned his team that the hardest work was still to come.

"First of all, let's just keep calm about this," he said. "This has been a fantastic day, in which we have turned around the situation in the drivers' championship and also, albeit partially, put us back in a stronger position in the constructors' classification. However, we are well aware the hardest part begins now. There are two races to go: we must tackle them with the same ferocious determination which has seen us fight back in a way many thought impossible. I have said it so often in the past, but I want to repeat it even today: what counts the most in this final part of the season is for the team and the drivers to keep a cool head, along with reliability and concentration.

He said he was particularly wary of Red Bull, whose driver Mark Webber is second to Alonso.

"We are up against very strong opposition, especially in the shape of a team that has managed to take 14 poles from 17 races: to be in this position with just two races to go is already significant," Domenicali added.

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