Maurizio Arrivabene felt nothing really went the way of his Scuderia Ferrari team during the Azerbaijan, with Sebastian Vettel finishing fourth and Kimi Raikkonen retiring on Sunday.
Raikkonen’s race was compromised early when he collided with Valtteri Bottas at turn two on the opening lap, before debris caused a puncture that damaged the floor of his car and looked to have ended his afternoon. However a red flag soon after enabled the team to repair his car and give him a chance to restart, although he retired towards the end whilst running last, a lap adrift.
Vettel’s race was no less interesting, with a clash with title rival Lewis Hamilton saw him earn a ten-second stop and go penalty that dropped him down the order, but he was able to finish ahead of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team racer, who had troubles of his own.
Ferrari Team Principal Arrivabene says the team will look into what happened in Azerbaijan but will come back fighting in the Austrian Grand Prix in two weeks time.
“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,” said Arrivabene.
“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 twelve races starting with the Austrian GP, with even more determination than before.”