Formula 1 | Symonds on Ferrari strategy in China: “They compromised Raikkonen's race”

According to Pat Symonds, Ferrari has chosen to focus on Sebastian Vettel to win the next world championship. In an interview released to the official Formula One website, in fact, the former English Williams engineer spoke about the strategy adopted by the Scuderia di Maranello in China, underlining how the men at the wall deliberately compromised Kimi Raikkonen's race. The Finn, according to Symonds, was used as a block when Valtteri Bottas managed to close the undecut on the German.

A kind of sacrifice with which the Maranello team aimed to put Sebastian Vettel back in command of the race. The wear of the tyres, however, did not allow Kimi to defend himself from the Mercedes' attacks, thus rendering the entire strategy in vain. The former Williams defined the moves of the wall "Such a pity" given that without the central stint with finished tires, Kimi could easily have played for the final success of the GP.

Here are the words of Pat Symonds: “Ferrari has to decide how to race. Raikkonen's race in China was very unlucky because he wasn't helped by strategy. He stayed on the track for too long and this compromised any chance of success. They aimed to slow down the cars in front, but it didn't work very well."

“When his rivals got back on him, about halfway through the race, his tires were dead and those behind him managed to pass him without any major problems. Strategically it was a bad decision. In this way, they will certainly not be able to win the constructors' championship. They are aiming for the drivers' championship and these decisions give a clear idea of ​​how they intend to conquer it" he added.