Ferrari: Top marks for effort

There’s little doubt that Ferrari has made more progress than its rivals, given the F2012’s poor form in the early races. Under technical director Pat Fry, the car has been improved in leaps and bounds and Fernando Alonso is the only driver to have logged three wins. But as team boss Stefano Domenicali is always keen to point out, the car has yet to record a dry-weather pole and prove that it is definitely fastest on a given weekend.

“We know that we have to keep finding a step of development,” he says. “Otherwise the others will improve and it will be more difficult always to be in defensive mode. The key is to keep pushing as we did in the first half of the season.”

Ferrari’s greatest asset remains Alonso, who continues to extract the most from the package and has scored in every race thus far. He’s emphasised just how much a third title would mean to him after a six-year wait since the last, but will the Spaniard’s tenacity be enough — and will his luck hold?