Domenicali sees Kubica as title rival

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali believes Robert Kubica will be a championship challenger right until the end of the season, judging by the Polish driver`s strong start to the campaign.

Kubica took his maiden pole position in the Bahrain Grand Prix and pushed Ferrari`s Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen hard throughout the race to finish in third.

And having taken his second consecutive podium finish, Domenicali suspects that their BMW Sauber rival is going to be a threat all year.

“Kubica did a very nice, positive race,” said Domenicali. “On the podium he told me he struggled a bit when dealing with the oil in the first corners. But the pace he and BMW have deserves respect. He is a driver who I believe will be in the title fight until the end.”

Although Ferrari have won the last two races and lie just one point behind BMW Sauber in the constructors` championship, Domenicali is adamant that his team must work hard to maintain their form.

“Our programme this year is based on constant growth,” he explained. “We must develop the car all the time because we must work in parallel on two fronts: we must keep on working on reliability, because it can create situations difficult to recover from, and on performance, with the search for developments that we must do race-by-race. We want to carry on this way at Barcelona.”

And he has reiterated his belief that McLaren remain a major threat, despite their poor showing at Sakhir last weekend.

“Yes, absolutely,” explained Domenicali. “Every team have tested there, and I`m convinced McLaren will be back in their usual form.”

7.4.2008   ▪ Formula One    ▪ Kubica    ▪ www.autosport.com