(© Ben Johnston 2015)
Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene was
delighted with Kimi Raikkonen’s performance in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix
after the Iceman secured his first podium of the season ending the race in
second place just 3s behind race winner Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team’s Lewis
Hamilton.
Arrivabene declared that Raikkonen is back after watching
Finn beat his four time world champion on track for the first time this season
as Sebastian Vettel finished the race in fifth place following a number of
mistakes over the course of the race.
Raikkonen showed throughout the weekend that he was faster
than Vettel throughout the weekend although Kimi was just three tenths of a
second slower than Vettel in qualifying and had his best qualifying position
since the 2013 German Grand Prix. It was also Raikkonen’s first podium for
Ferrari since the 2009 Italian Grand Prix in Monza. Speaking following the race
Maurizio Arrrivabene stated:
‘I am really happy for
Kimi: today I can officially state that he’s back. He showed what a race animal
he is, and if he had had a few more laps perhaps… Also, I am happy for the
team, because they worked really well. Sebastian made a couple of mistakes today,
one at the beginning, which forced us to change his race strategy, whereas in
the case of Kimi we followed our plans. He was not totally convinced about it
at a point, but showed a great deal of discipline in following instructions
from the pit-wall. As for Seb, he actually made something wrong, otherwise we
could have had two drivers on the rostrum; but he’s a human being as we all
are. He’s a fantastic driver and let’s not forget now what he has already
achieved so far. I wish to thank everybody back at Maranello, because they were
able to work on the engine development, but also on every single component,
achieving over three months what normally would have required twice as much. I
can’t tell if we are going to catch the Mercedes, but I do like the idea of
putting some pressure on them. Today we were aware of the gap between them and
ourselves, and that required an aggressive strategy. Having said that, with
regard to the Friday log runs where we had showed a good pace, the temperature
was much lower today, and we had to react accordingly.’
Raikkonen has now moved into fourth place in the
championship on 42 points, just 23 behind his team mate Sebastian Vettel
following his second place finish. The Iceman ended the race just 3.380s behind
race winner Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team’s Lewis Hamilton. Speaking following
the race the Iceman stated:
‘After a difficult year
last year and a beginning of the season that was a bit unlucky, it’s great to
be back on the podium. I have mixed emotions, it’s a great feeling to be back,
but we want to be on the top. The start was really good, I managed to pass
Nico, but then I lost the position and there I lost a bit of time. The strategy
was perfect, we did the right calls and the right tyre choice, I was happy with
the car, we kept up a good speed through the whole race. In the last laps I was
getting closer and closer and could see Hamilton, but the race was at its end,
we would have needed more laps to try to do something. I think we are still a
little bit behind the Mercedes but in some circuits and some conditions we ca
be very competitive, especially in the race. Today we did our best , we have to
be happy with the result , we did the maximum and took some good points for the
team. We keep improving step by step, we just have to keep working doing the
same things in the same direction, and I’m sure we’ll get there.’
In contrast to Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel had a difficult
race. The German started the race from the front row in second place alongside
pole sitter Lewis Hamilton however he made a number of mistakes and was out
performed by Raikkonen throughout the weekend and for the first time this
season.
The four time world champion was also off the podium for the
first time this season. The German had a great battle with the Williams Martini
Racing Team’s Valtteri Bottas and was unfortunate not to secure fourth place in
the race. Speaking after the Grand Prix, Vettel stated:
‘It didn’t seem to be the
perfect day for me. I couldn’t get into the rhythm and lost positions when it
mattered not to lose them for the final result. In general, I struggled a bit
with the rear end and exiting the corners, which made me vulnerable to Nico’s
attacks and prevented me from getting as close as I needed to Valtteri to chase
him down the straight with DRS. Towards the end, I was struggling to get past
in the fight against the Williams. When it was important to be quick, I always
seemed to get stuck in traffic, and thus damaged my tyres. Overall, though, I
think it has been another very positive weekend. It’s s shame I damaged the
front wing in the race and I had to come in for a new nose, otherwise I think
fourth place would have been secured, or even third. Anyway, that’s how it
went. I was trying to push, and when you’re following another car you obviously
lose a lot of downforce. With hindsight, it was probably more than I expected.
I think I tried a bit too hard and ran wide. On the other hand, I am very happy
for Kimi. I’ts good that he was able to pass Nico (Rosberg) towards the end.
For the team, it’s obviously a great result. It’s a long way to go for the
season and up to this point we can be very, very happy. It’s still a big
surprise how good we are but there’s still a bit of a gap.’
© Ben Johnston 2015
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