Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said there were three reasons why 2013 was a “year to forget” for his team.
“The first was an inability to develop the car in the second half of the season,” he explained in an interview for Italian television station RAI Uno. “I want explanations as to why, because if we don’t understand the reasons, then that’s not good.”
“The second is the tires, although I’m not looking to make excuses. We built a car to work with certain tires, with which we proved to be very competitive. Then the tires were changed, definitely proving to be a disadvantage for us and an advantage for others.”
Turning his focus to Mercedes’ controversial mid-season Pirelli tire test, Montezemolo added: “Furthermore, there was an interpretation of the rules from one team, which one has to say was a bit strange and which incurred a punishment that, to say the least, had a touch of the Pontius Pilate about it.”
Mercedes beat Ferrari to second in the championship by six points.
Montezemolo also hit out at Felipe Massa’s drive-through penalty in the final race, which helped tipped the balance towards Mercedes: “I think it was disproportionate and unjust, as was [Lewis] Hamilton’s.”
If Felipe had stayed in fourth place, we would have been second in the constructors’ championship. Every so often, the gentlemen who come to the races to act as stewards make decisions that are a bit ridiculous and anachronistic. One needs to be careful that we maintain credibility, for the work of the teams that invest money and for the drivers who risk their lives.”