Ferrari boss issues rallying cry

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo issued a rallying cry to the Italian scuderia on Thursday and heaped praise on team boss Stefano Domenicali's leadership. Speaking ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, the final race before the sport's European summer break, he also warned that he remained 'concerned' about their title challenge despite Fernando Alonso's third win of the year in Germany last weekend. He said: "I am concerned, more so than I was the day after Valencia, where he also won. "I see very strong opponents: McLaren has made great progress, Red Bull is very strong, Sauber had a race pace that was a match for ours and Lotus is very strong at times. "Therefore, we have to be very careful: after we had a difficult start to the season, maybe our rivals did not expect to see Ferrari capable of fighting back this strongly, but now they will redouble their efforts to beat us. "Therefore, we must stay very focused and continue our efforts to improve continuously." Di Montezemolo, however, expressed joy at the team's performance in Germany and praised the work of Domenicali. "I want to tell you I am proud of you," he said. "When I watched you applauding the drivers, I was thinking that I am lucky to work with people like you, people who have known how to work without fuss, with ability and determination to redress the difficult situation at the start of the season, which was not at the level of the name Ferrari. "I want to take this opportunity to thank Domenicali for his work. When, a few years ago, it was decided to go for a man who had grown from within the company, there were some who turned up their noses at the idea. "But today I am pleased to see a true leader of a team that is doing well, which is what I want and which is worthy of the name Ferrari." Alonso is the only driver to win three races this season and, after the Hockenheim contest, leads the drivers title race by 36 points.