Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne says he “expects” the Scuderia to return to winning ways at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Despite taking a noticeable performance step over the winter, the Maranello outfit has experienced a frustrating start to its 2016 season amidst engine reliability issues and on-track collisions.
Still, Marchionne, who previously said that Ferrari’s current woes were breaking his soul, is “confident” the Italian team can get its season truly under way as the European leg of the season gets under way in Barcelona.
“So far, much of it was down to bad luck, but the season has just begun,” Marchionne is quoted as saying to Italian media by Motorsport.com. “I expect us to win shortly, starting with Spain.”
In the wake of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen's infamous coming together at the start of the Chinese Grand Prix, team principal Maurizio Arrivabene said Marchionne was far from impressed.
The Ferrari CEO insists he is happy with Maranello's current driver pairing and claims that misfortune has been the main hinderance to their progress so far.
“I’m very satisfied with both Vettel and Raikkonen. The only thing that hasn't worked well is luck.”
Marchionne declared ahead of the current season that another title-less year for Ferrari would be “a tragedy”.
Raikkonen, who remains the Scuderia's last champion to date (2007), currently sits third in the Drivers’ standings, 55 points behind Nico Rosberg. Vettel is fifth and another 12 points adrift.
In the Constructors’ championship, Ferrari has only scored half the points amassed by Mercedes so far.
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