It was a case of what could have been for the Scuderia Ferrari squad at this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, when Sebastian Vettel got off to a flying start as the lights went green, storming past the two Mercedes AMG PETRONAS drivers to take the lead of the race. The German was immediately able to pull out a gap at the front, showing that at least one of the Ferrari’s certainly had the pace to worry the Silver Arrows in Montreal.
It was then that a shrewd ploy to take advantage of a virtual safety car period and bring Vettel in for what they believed would be a ‘free pit stop’, did not go according to plan, forcing the German to then commit to two stops and ultimately settle for second place.
It was almost the perfect strategy for the Maranello-based squad however, and Ferrari Boss Maurizio Arrivabene expressed how pleased he was with the team’s commitment at trying to make it work.
“Sebastian had a stunning start and a great race, showing that this car has muscle. Kimi [Raikkonen] suffered perhaps a bit too much when he was on fuel saving mode, losing temperature in his tires in the process and struggling to recover.
“As far as race strategies are concerned, we tried to take advantage of the Virtual Safety car period, which lasted way less than expected. It could have proved a very good move, taking into account the predicted rate of degradation on the ultra-soft tires: but this degradation did not materialize in the end.
“Nevertheless, I am happy for Seb’s second place in the race, mostly on account of the commitment from the whole team after Monaco.”
Looking ahead to this weekend’s Baku Grand Prix, Ferrari will be hoping that they can again take the fight to Mercedes, and be as close, or even closer than we saw at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
