Todt aiming for perfection

Ferrari dominated the 2002 season but team principal Jean Todt is still not satisfied and is aiming for even more next year. Ominously, the Frenchman says only seventeen one-two finishes would be perfection and Ferrari still has the scope to be even ...

Ferrari dominated the 2002 season but team principal Jean Todt is still not satisfied and is aiming for even more next year. Ominously, the Frenchman says only seventeen one-two finishes would be perfection and Ferrari still has the scope to be even better.

"It wasn't quite a perfect season," Todt told a German magazine. "Seventeen 1-2s from 17 races, now that's perfection! We didn't manage that so we've still got a huge potential to improve. The engine, electrics, chassis, tyres: they were all good, but nothing was perfect."

Jean Todt and Michael Schumacher.

Photo by Ferrari Media Center.

Many people are not terribly happy with the way Ferrari have monopolized this year so the thought of them getting even better might be unwelcome. But Todt has had enough uncertainty in the past: "For me I don't need any more suspense. I had enough of that in the days before Ferrari had all its success," he remarked.

The team started the season with last year's chassis, the F2001, and it's possible the same strategy will be adopted for 2003: "We didn't get it wrong when we used the 2001 car for the first race this year," Todt said. "So perhaps we'll start off again with the old model."

Todt may be dreaming of seventeen one-two finishes next year but it's unlikely to happen if the FIA has its way. Ferrari's dominance this season is a major factor in the recent spate of proposed changes to F1 to bring back the excitement and stop declining audiences.