All Formula One drivers sooner or later dream of racing for the series’ most iconic and successful team, Ferrari. This year, the Italian team won only one race — in Britain — and finished third in the series. But its goal is always to win the championship, which it has done more than any other team. To be a Ferrari driver is to be part of a long tradition at the top of Formula One. The drivers this year were Fernando Alonso, who won the drivers’ title with Renault in 2005 and 2006 and who joined the team last year, and Felipe Massa, who has been driving for the team since 2006. Massa signed a contract with the team as a rookie in 2002; he drove that year with Sauber — which had Ferrari engines — and then as a test driver for Ferrari in 2003, before returning to Sauber. Massa came within a point of winning the drivers’ title in 2008, missing out in the last race to Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes. Alonso finished fourth in the standings this year, just one point behind Mark Webber of Red Bull, and Massa finished sixth. Both Alonso and Massa will race again for Ferrari next season. They talked in separate interviews on the same recent day, addressing the same questions about the past, present and future with Brad Spurgeon of the International Herald Tribune.

Q. What is your general feeling about Ferrari’s performance this year?

A. Alonso: This year in overall performance was a big step forward for us, compared to last year. Last year we were learning to know each other, and in 2011 we tried to improve all the problems we had last year. This year we maximized the potential of the car at every single race, and I am very happy for that. We didn’t maybe have as competitive a car as last year and we are still third in the world championship — and that is a big achievement for us this year.

We improved the pit stops, we improved the starts that we were not totally happy with last year, we improved the strategy, the management of the race. Last year, there was a jump-start for me in China, and a crash for me in Monaco that did not allow me to qualify. Drivers always do mistakes, but this year I tried to improve the biggest mistakes that I did last year, and I tried to do only small mistakes this year that people don’t see. Overall, we improved in every area that we wanted to. The problem is that we found a very dominant Red Bull car this year, a superb [Sebastian] Vettel as well, and the combination of the two made it impossible for us to fight for the championship.

Massa: For sure, we didn’t have the result we expected, and I as well didn’t do the result I expected. I have been pushing very hard and will concentrate to do a very good season next year.