Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has urged his staff not to give up believing they can still be champions this year - despite a troubled Belgian Grand Prix denting its title ambitions.
Fernando Alonso's retirement at Spa has left Ferrari as outsiders for the championship this year, with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber edging clear at the head of the point standings.
However, Domenicali is far from ready to concede his team's ambitions are over. "For sure it was not really a positive weekend for us," he said. "From the points point of view for sure we lost ground, no doubt about it, so it is more difficult but it is not impossible. Up to now I remember in 2007 that we were 17 points behind [under the previous points system] with two races to go. More difficult than that? I don't know."
Domenicali thinks that it is important his team keeps it ambitions focused on winning the title, because misfortune for its rivals in the next few races could quickly change the picture of the title battle.
"For sure it is difficult but we want to keep pushing because out of the top five drivers, we were one of the three that did not score a point," he said. "Maybe in the next couple of races something will happen the other way around, so we just need to be there and to not give up.
"We did not go out this weekend with the performance that we were expecting, and we need to understand why. We need to be very cautious because two races ago we saw one of our competitors, McLaren, seemed to be suffering and now it seems to be that they are very strong.
"Race by race, the scenario is changing so quickly that it is difficult to predict something. Anything can happen."