F1: Ferrari still won't choose no. 1 driver

| Tue, 08/28/2007 - 04:32

Ferrari, whose two drivers are separated by a single point in the championship standings, said on Monday it had no intention of favouring either one for tactical reasons.

Ever since the start of the season, questions have been asked about which of Ferrari's drivers - Brazilian Felipe Massa and Finn Kimi Raikkonen - was the team's number one.

Now, with five races to go, the question remains unanswered and the standings show that neither Massa nor Raikkonen is ideally placed to win the 2007 drivers' title.

But Ferrari Managing Director Jean Todt said this did not mean the team would adopt a strategy of favouring one in the hope of propelling him to the top of the standings at the expense of the offer.

"After 12 races both have won three and there is only a point between them. It would be wrong to decide which should win," he said, as preparations began for the Italian Grand Prix in two weeks' time.

"We don't have any strategy as far as they are concerned. The only thing we have to think about is developing the car".

The Italian team pulled off its second 1-2 triumph of the season in Turkey on Sunday as he grabbed his third Grand Prix win of the season and Raikkonen followed him over the line.

Italian newspapers hailed the success on Monday, saying it had re-ignited Ferrari's championship hopes. Pundits predicted that if Ferrari can do the same at Monza on September 9, the title race could go down to the wire.

Despite the Turkish triumph, there is still a formidable gap separating Massa and Raikkonen from their McLaren rivals in the championship.

Massa is 15 points behind leader Lewis Hamilton and ten behind reigning world champion Fernando Alonso. Raikkonen is a point behind Massa.

Todt, while implicitly acknowledging the uphill battle ahead of the team in the last five races, remained hopeful that Ferrari would come away from 2007 with a championship crown.

"We have two drivers who are doing a great job and so we have a chance of achieving what we want," he said.

This year's championship is one of the most closely fought in years, with all four McLaren and Ferrari drivers in with a chance of becoming champion.

So far Hamilton, Alonso, Massa and Raikkonen have each won three races. McLaren has had the edge because of superior reliability in the early part of the season and leads the constructors' championship by 148 points to 137.

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