Marc Surer: "Ferrari wrong to criticise Raikkonen"

Former racing driver Marc Surer has spoken out in defence of Kimi Raikkonen amid the criticism he's received from Ferrari following the opening two rounds of the 2017 championship. 

Raikkonen has been off the pace compared to team mate Sebastian Vettel, who took the victory in the season opener in Australia. Again in China, the Finn crossed the line forty seconds behind the German.

However Surer doesn't agree with the comments from Ferrari: "I don't think it's fair that they do that to him," the Swiss told the German broadcaster Sky.

"We heard what his problems were -- that his engine did not deliver the right power. And he complained about missing grip in the front, which I see as a setup issue that the team has to solve. If you criticise a driver, first you should check if everything was working technically."

Ferrari themselves has seen criticism come their way, as their 'media blackout' that we saw during winter testing continues in Bahrain, to the disgust of many journalists including La Gazzetta dello Sport's correspondent Luigi Perna.

"After a winter of silence, there was tremendous media and Tifosi interest in Ferrari, but this was met with silence too," he said in Bahrain. "It is understandable that president Marchionne wanted quiet after his statements of a year ago, but this is too much."

Fergal Walsh