Scuderia Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene has vowed to keep fighting for both world championships following Kimi Räikkönen’s victory in the 2018 United States Grand Prix, despite the sizeable deficit to their rivals.
Räikkönen’s first Ferrari victory for nine years and Sebastian Vettel’s fourth place at the Circuit of the Americas meant Lewis Hamilton’s third place wasn’t enough for the Brit to claim a fifth world title.
While it’s mathematically still possible for Vettel and Ferrari to claim both the drivers’ championship and constructors’ titles, Arrivabene admits “the numbers are against us.”
“Today’s win came courtesy of Kimi who drove a great race and the team, which at such a tricky time, showed great courage in taking a step back, fighting our closest rivals on equal terms,” said Arrivabene.
“Seb was unfortunate and had to fight his way back up the order after the collision on the opening lap. In the championship, the numbers are against us, but we will knuckle down and fight all the way to the end, just as we did today.”
Ferrari appeared to lose their way following Vettel’s most recent victory at the Belgian Grand Prix in August with some suggesting that upgrades brought to the car failed to produce any gains.
Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport and Lewis Hamilton went on to win four straight races leading up to the United States Grand Prix and now hold a seventy-eight point lead in the constructors’ race and a seventy point advantage in the drivers’ championship.
