Luca di Montezemolo gives reasons why he felt need to 'tweak the ear' of Fernando Alonso

Luca di Montezemolo has said he does understand Fernando Alonso's frustration with Ferrari's dip in form but nonetheless insisted he felt the need to rebuke the Spaniard to remind him of the team's "family values".

Since winning for the second time inside three races at his home Spanish GP in May, Alonso has only twice finished on the podium in the subsequent five rounds and went into the summer break 39 points adrift of Sebastian Vettel in the battle for the drivers' title. Montezemolo admits it has been tough to see the F138's steady slide in competitiveness and says Ferrari must now work methodically to start moving forwards again. "It doesn't sit well with me seeing our car is not competitive," he said. "That's why I intervened, even if I didn't want to abuse my authority over my men. However, it had to be done. But how? We started so well, we had begun the world championship with a very competitive car, maybe even considered the best. "But something happened and instead of moving forward we went backwards. Therefore the right attitude, the one I am taking from now on is as follows: understand the mistakes, fix them and after this careful analysis develop the car in the right direction. "We must put our heads down in this return match, as I describe this second part of the season after the break, a break I don't like, but we have to adhere to it." On a brighter note, Montezemolo did suggest that Ferrari should theoretically be stronger at the next two grands prix venues and it was now up to the team's technical team to "demonstrate their worth". "We must get back on the path we were on up until Barcelona. We can do it," the Italian added. "Secondly, Spa and Monza are two circuits that could suit the characteristics of our car. Yes, the conditions are in place to give a strong signal of a recovery and, on top of that, I expect results from our engineers who must demonstrate their worth."