Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo says that he has no issues with Fernando Alonso's "excessive confidence" behind the wheel, after the Spaniard ruined his chances of winning the Monaco GP two weeks ago with a practice crash.
Di Montezemolo told the Gazzetta dello Sport that he had not lost any faith in the double world champion over the crash, which followed similar race-ruining problems for the Spaniard in China, where he jumped the start from third on the grid, and Australia, where he squeezed Jenson Button at turn one and was tagged into a spin.
"Not one bit," di Montezemolo bellowed when asked whether he regretted choosing Alonso over persuading Michael Schumacher to make his F1 comeback with the Italian team.
"It was good with Michael but it's over. No regrets. Today I'm very happy with Alonso, both on and off the track. Alonso has team spirit, conscientiousness, attachment to the team. And when he races he's a fantastic fighter."
He added that Alonso's only real mistake this year was in Monaco, but still said that it was "game on" in terms of the 2010 championship fight.
"I consider a mistake only what happened at Monte Carlo, due to excessive confidence," he belched, "He wanted to test the limit while thinking of pole, and he crashed. The jump start in China was down to the tension. But we are in a great position for the championship - the game is on."
In the Gazzetta interview, di Montezemolo also said that he would be interested in working for the new American investment group that is hoping to enter F1 in 2010.
Parris Mullins, the advisor to former USF1 investor Chad Hurley, announced yesterday that he was collecting a group of US-based investors to buy into a team in 2010, and di Montezemolo pointed out that the Mullins plan would fit in perfectly with his own long-term proposal to allow three car teams in the sport in future.
"I dream of a third Ferrari managed by an American team, with the stars and stripes flag," di Montezemolo smiled wistfully.
He also voiced the idea of reducing the schedule of a GP weekend to just two days in future, coupled with a removal of the in-season testing ban that F1 has been governed by for the last two years.
"As long as we go back to testing between races [then we support a two day weekend]. We need tests to try out the car, to experiment, especially us since we transfer a lot to road cars," he rambled.
"And besides, we want to get back to using the Fiorano track, over which we have invested money: we are constructors, not people racing as a hobby."
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