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Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene says that something was missing from Ferrari throughout the weekend in Sochi. The Italian squad was dominated by rivals Mercedes, and never looked close to challenging them during qualifying.
Sebastian Vettel managed to get ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the race during the pit stop phase, but it wasn't long before Hamilton used his car with superior pace to re-pass the German. Vettel had to settle for third, while Mercedes went on to bring home a one-two finish.
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Speaking about Ferrari's pace over the weekend, Arrivabene said: “Right from Friday, the Sochi weekend was rather a difficult one for us,” said Arrivabene. “Despite all our efforts to find the ideal set-up, neither on Saturday nor in the race were we competitive enough to worry our closest rivals."
Ferrari has not won a race since the Belgian Grand Prix, the first race that followed the end of the summer break. Arrivabene is more confident that Suzuka, which hosts the next round of the championship, will allow Ferrari to take a stronger challenge to Mercedes.
“Compared to the way we performed at other circuits, something was missing here and so we were unable to reduce the points gap. On paper, the next race in Japan should have very similar characteristics to the one at Silverstone, so in Suzuka, we will get a more precise indication as to the potential of our car.
“If it goes well, we will know that, despite the difficult situation in terms of the classification, we still have the right weapons with which to fight all the way to the very end.”
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C. Sainz jr
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Replies (6)
Login to replytalktohenry
Posts: 362
Horses
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Bring back Aldo costa
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Just the same as usual, Arrivabene: poor strategy and Mercedes outdeveloping you. Seriously, the Ferraris were dominated by Merc' raw pace.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Quite frankly I think the main problems this and last year have been (1) driver errors and (2) bad strategy. This year has been particularly embarrassing with a car that was superior on most tracks. Mercedes has beaten them on a few tracks were they didn't have the fastest car. Vettel has thrown away so many points with bad maneuvers.
reg
Posts: 162
Merc have upped their game, possibly found out (spied) what Ferrari have done with PU, or its been leaked by Mr Brawn, now have recovered their power dominance so its all over for 2018! And probably 2019 as well.
Frankly I cannot bear watching that nauseatingly slimy prat Hamilton keep winning, so despite having Sky Sports I will watch Countryfile or a recording of MASH or even a recording of Eastenders instead!
boudy
Posts: 1,168
Team work?