Arrivabene rues missed double podium
Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene says both his drivers would have finished on the podium in Bahrain had Sebastian Vettel's race not been compromised by mistakes.
He also confirmed that Kimi Raikkonen's strategy of using medium tyres in the middle stint was decided before the race.
"We had a clear strategy for the two drivers," said Arrivabene.
"Seb made two little mistakes, the big one was at the beginning so we were obliged to change the strategy for Seb. We told Kimi to follow our strategy, at a certain point he was not really convinced, and we said no, we stay as we are. He was brave enough and disciplined enough to follow, and it was a good result.
"With Seb we changed the strategy and we went to Plan B, but with Kimi we were following exactly what we preferred."
Cool conditions key
Arrivabene said the team choose Kimi's strategy after conditions turned out to be cooler for the race than in Friday practice, which led to the decision to use mediums in the middle of the race.
"Today we put together an aggressive strategy, and this is exactly what we discussed. Today we recognised the gap that we have with Mercedes, so the only way is to be aggressive, because at this stage you can make a mistake if you are aggressive. If you are not it's not the right time.
"If one day, I don't know when, we are able to catch them, of course the strategy must be put together in a way that is a bit different.
"You saw on Friday that our pace was quite good, but the temperature was different versus today. This is the reason why were changing the strategy that we had in mind before to the new one, due to the conditions of the track, which were changing.
"If everything was going well I'm sure we were going to have two drivers up to the podium. I don't tell you which positions, but two drivers for sure. I don't tell you the position because I don't know! But one was very, very interesting.
"Regarding Seb I have to say he two little mistakes, but we don't have to forget what he has done until now, he won one race, two podiums. Sometimes it happens, we are human beings, thank God, and this is the beauty of the sport.
"I'm happy for Kimi because now I can officially say, not that I signed a contract, that Kimi's back. We have two strong drivers."
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About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Event | Bahrain GP |
| Sub-event | Sunday race |
| Location | Bahrain International Circuit |
| Drivers | Kimi Raikkonen , Sebastian Vettel |
| Teams | Ferrari |
| Author | Adam Cooper |
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