Maurizio Arrivabene felt the plan to get Sebastian Vettel to undercut Lewis Hamilton during the pit stop cycle during the Singapore Grand Prix backfired on Scuderia Ferrari when the German was held up on his out-lap by Sergio Pérez, with the time lost enough to see the Briton retain the lead when he made his own stop.
However, the Team Principal of Ferrari says all is not lost in either championship, and across the final six races of the season the aim is to get Vettel to beat Hamilton in the Drivers’ Championship and Ferrari to be Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport in the Constructors’ Championship.
Vettel jumped on the Ultrasoft Pirelli tyre in the pit stop while the majority of his rivals, including both Hamilton and Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen used the Soft tyre in their second stint, which ultimately proved to be the better option.
Arrivabene said the decision to use the Ultrasoft ultimately failed to pay off as he was forced to conserve his tyres, which allowed Verstappen to leapfrog him when he hit the pits for his own stop, and by the chequered flag, Vettel was more than half a minute down on the Dutchman and almost forty seconds shy of race winner Hamilton.
“Today’s winner deserved the victory,” said Arrivabene, who also saw Kimi Räikkönen claim fifth place in the second SF71H. “After Sebastian overtook Verstappen, we went for an aggressive strategy, trying for the undercut on the Ultrasoft tyres.
“Unfortunately, during the one lap that would prove to be crucial, we found ourselves behind another car and so we were unable to run at a fast enough pace.
“Despite today’s result, not all is lost. Now, calmly and with determination, we will tackle the remaining six races, fighting all the way to the end.”
