Another missed opportunity for Ferrari
Having quickly got rid of the two Mercedes, the two Ferrari drivers were unable to take advantage of the situation to claim their first victory of the year. They had to be content with the two lowest places on the podium.
Maurizio Arrivabene’s men may have regrets at the end of this Spanish Grand Prix. Indeed, for once, they did not have to chase behind the two Mercedes. But they paid dearly for their poor qualifying performance, as acknowledged by the head of Scuderia: “Today, we had an opportunity and we failed to take advantage of it. Even though on track we had a fast car, we paid the price for our qualifying problems, which reappeared in some areas of the circuit during the race.”
If Kimi Räikkönen managed to finish in second position, he experienced a very complicated start before climbing back up the hierarchy: « I had a bad start, with a lot of wheel spin when I released the clutch. I managed to recover a few places during the first corners and then I caught up to Max quite easily. »
But once in the exhausts of the Red Bull, the Finn was never able to threaten him, nor even follow him closely as it damaged his tires: « *The car was good, the speed was good but when you’re following another car for many laps, it doesn’t help the tires and I was lacking grip and downforce. I was never able to threaten him in the last corner because he was really very fast there. It’s a bit disappointing when you are so close and you don’t win but after a tough weekend, we have to be satisfied with this result.* »
Similarly, Sebastian Vettel attempted a staggered three-stop strategy, which didn’t work either as he was also aiming for the win: “Today, we had a big chance to win the race. So I was clearly pushing for the victory, that’s what I was hoping for. But it only lasted until my last stop when I realized that the advantage I had with slightly fresher tires than the guys in front was almost non-existent.”
Thus, the strategy of the German driver only worked to overtake Daniel Ricciardo, who had chosen the same three-stop strategy: « We decided to split our strategies between the two cars: I chose the three-stop strategy and tried to attack the leader, which I managed to do. But in the end, Daniel and I finished behind those on two stops. »
Ferrari will therefore have to work to improve its pace, particularly in qualifying laps, if it wants to keep its championship hopes alive.
