(Scuderia Ferrari SpA via Twitter)
New Ferrari team principal Marco Mattiacci has revealed that he received a call from Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemelo last Friday while he was in New York about replacing Stefano Domenicali as team principal at the Prancing Horse. Speaking to the media for the first time since his appointment Mattiacci said:
'I accept it because sometimes you can bring a new perspective when looking at issues and opportunities. The fact is I need to prove that I am at the level of Ferrari first and the level of Formula One, so you see in front of you an extremely motivated person.'
The Italian, who has no experience of Formula One has joined the team after holding the position of President of Ferrari North America which under his stewardship became the Italian marque's largest sales market.
On Friday, Mattiacci oversaw his driver's improve their performances as Fernando Alonso finished the opening session on top of the timesheet's while Kimi Raikkonen's side of the garage dealt with a suspension issue. In the second session, Alonso finished in second place just ahead of Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo while Raikkonen finished the second session in seventh place.
Mattiacci also revealed that he spent the day with Domenicali to discuss matters within the team. It also meant that he was not heading into this weekend's race in China without knowledge of the team.
The Italian will make his debut on the Ferrari pit-wall tomorrow when the on-track action gets underway.
©Ben Johnston 2014
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