Arrivabene states Ferrari will bounce back from Baku woes

Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene feels that Ferrari was hard done by in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. After starting third and fourth on the grid, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel failed to make it onto the podium with both drivers involved in separate incidents.

Raikkonen

Raikkonen's race was compromised right from the start when he was involved in an incident with Valtteri Bottas. Although Bottas suffered more damage to his car, Raikkonen dropped further down the order. On one of the safety car restarts, Raikkonen was hit from behind and suffered a puncture.

He retired from the race only to be sent back out after the team repaired his car. However, a ten-second penalty was handed to Raikkonen after the team was found to have illegally repaired his car, and the Finn retired in the latter stages of the race.

Vettel

Vettel meanwhile, was penalised for a controversial incident with championship rival Lewis Hamilton. Vettel appeared to swipe sideways into Hamilton after the German believed the Brit had brake checked him.

FIA data that was released post race suggested that Hamilton did not brake at all, and no action was taken against the three-time world champion. Arrivabene said that these series of decisions affected Ferrari's race badly.

"I think that everything that happened today was clear to see for everyone, starting with the incident on the opening lap, with Kimi pushed into the barrier, then what happened to Sebastian on the restart lap after the Safety Car," Arrivabene said. 

"We don't want to get into an argument but I think I can say that some decisions that were not entirely clear, never worked in favour of our team. We fought hard even if the results don't show it.  Today, our car was on the pace and that was clear to see.

"The team demonstrated its strengths, from changing the engine on Seb's car on Saturday to the work done on Kimi's when the race was red-flagged, to get it back out on track, despite the damage it had suffered.  That's Ferrari for you. We let our actions speak for us. We will continue in that vein immediately, in preparation for the remaining 12 races starting with the Austrian GP, with even more determination than before."

Fergal Walsh