Sergio Marchionne to arrange talks with Raikkonen

F1 Update: Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne wants his Formula 1 team to sit down for talks with Kimi Raikkonen after the Finn’s second consecutive difficult race in the Chinese Grand Prix.

While Ferrari’s car proved a match for main rival Mercedes this season, Raikkonen has yet to finish on the podium – although he pointed out that his strategy compromised his race in China.

Marchionne expressed some frustration with the failure of Raikkonen to get past Daniel Ricciardo in the early stages of the race, at a time when Vettel was also behind him.

As well as this costing both Ferrari drivers time, Vettel was able to overtake Ricciardo shortly after passing Raikkonen.

“I talked about this with Maurizio,” said Marchionne.

“Maybe they should sit around a table and he should talk to him.

“Today he seemed to be busy with other stuff. Vettel was more aggressive.”

When asked if it was fair to suggest that the 2017 Ferrari F1 car is more comfortable for Vettel than it is for Raikkonen, Marchionne said: “Absolutely no.”

Marchionne added that the safety car, which was brought out after Antonio Giovinazzi crashed on the start-finish straight, probably cost Vettel victory.

“Without the safety car the story of the race should be different,” said Marchionne.

“I can confirm that our choice to change the tyres of Vettel was correct.

“It was a nice race, we [finished] second, we are second in the constructors’ championship by one point and Seb has the same points as Hamilton. That’s not bad after two races.”

Category: Formula One