Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne said in the aftermath of the Russian Grand Prix that he is sure the Maranello team will bounce back from its current dip.
Although Mercedes' closest challenger in 2016, Ferrari has been struck by reliability and race incidents, including Sebastian Vettel's push into the Sochi barrier by Daniil Kvyat on Sunday.
Not only that, the qualifying gap between the fastest Mercedes and Ferrari in Russia was close to a second.
"Yesterday was a bad day," Marchionne said in Turin at the presentation of a new Fiat model, "and we must close the gap at the speed of light.
"I am used to seeing the Ferrari of Schumacher so it hurts my soul to see a Ferrari that suffers," added Marchionne, who earlier had set the team goals of immediate race wins and the title. "But I have the utmost confidence in the team that we will succeed."
Meanwhile AP reports that Marchionne has been named CEO of Ferrari, while retaining his position as chairman, the super sports carmaker announced Monday.
The move came as Ferrari posted its best first-quarter earnings ever, a 19-percent increase in net profit to 78 million euros ($89.5 million). That compares with 65 million euros in the same period last year.
Marchionne, who is also CEO of mass-market carmaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, replaces long-time CEO Amedeo Felisa, who is retiring after 26 years at Ferrari. The 69-year-old Felisa, who became Ferrari CEO in 2008 and formerly was head of product at Alfa Romeo, will retain a Ferrari board seat.
Marchionne, 63, engineered the luxury carmaker's spin off from mass carmaker Fiat Chrysler after longtime chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo stepped down over differences in strategy.
The CEO plans to position Ferrari as a luxury goods maker beyond cars. Ferrari said in the earnings release that the first Ferrari branded goods are expected to be available in 2017, Ferrari's 70th anniversary.
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