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Berger defends under-fire Ferrari

ESPNF1 Staff
December 8, 2010 « Ferrari confirms Badoer exit | »
Gerhard Berger: 'It's incredibly difficult to do the right thing in the crucial second' © Getty Images
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Gerhard Berger has refused to join those who have criticised Ferrari's mistake that cost Fernando Alonso his third drivers' title in 2010.

Sections of the Italian press as well as some F1 pundits have called for heads to roll after strategists called Alonso in for an early pit stop in Abu Dhabi that ultimately stranded the Spaniard behind Vitaly Petrov.

But Berger, a former Ferrari driver and ten-time grand prix winner, as well as former Toro Rosso team owner, said he knows how difficult is the task of calling the shots from the pit wall.

"Afterwards, when you've got all the information at hand and you have time to think about it, you're always smarter," he said. "It was easy to criticise Ferrari after that race but it's incredibly difficult to do the right thing in the crucial second."

He added that Ferrari should be criticised for not giving Alonso the right car with which to pass the less competitive Petrov's Renault. "It shouldn't happen with Ferrari that Renault has better F-duct technology than you. The F-duct is a thing that everyone knew about well [by season's end]."

He also predicted a long period of dominance now for Red Bull. "They won't be beaten as long as they have Adrian Newey. What can Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes do in this situation? I would try to take away Newey as a tool [to Red Bull].

"So that's on the aerodynamic side. If I was Red Bull's competitor I would be doing everything politically to reduce the importance of aerodynamics. Today this is done simply with the whole cost argument about wind tunnels."

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