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
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Replies (4)
Login to replyf1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
Bad luck and bad driving, 2 terrible weekends for Ferrari
F1racefan97
Posts: 113
They were nowhere in quali, need a better showing in Austria or the championship could quickly slip away
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
On the bright side, none of us expected Ferrari to be on top these two races. It can only get better for them from this point and onward. Mercedes still have Singapore to be concerned for, and the other tracks look like tracks Ferrari will like aswell. I just hope they wont have to take engine penalties.
mclarenfan1968
Posts: 1,027
Vettel already bounced back in this race while turd shit boy lost out despite pulling a simulated break-test on him. In the end Vettel still finished ahead, there cant be a bigger slap in the face for the Mercedes retard than that LOL