Finn returns to podium for the first time since 2013 but is beaten by just three seconds by Lewis Hamilton
Monday 20 April 2015 08:54, UK
Ferrari have insisted that their strategy wasn't to blame for Kimi Raikkonen narrowly missing out on victory in the Bahrain GP.
While Raikkonen’s second place amounted to the Finn’s first podium finish in 18 months, it was the question of whether the former world champion could have won the grand prix which was the dominant post-race talking point.
Not only did Raikkonen’s elongated second stint on medium tyres culminate in Hamilton sweeping past the faltering Ferrari, but the Finn was still lapping at a far faster rate than the two Mercedes' at the race’s conclusion – compelling evidence, it would appear, that he should have made an earlier switch to the faster soft compounds.
However, Ferrari are adamant that they selected the right strategy.
“I think we got the stops pretty much in the right place for that option-prime-option strategy and gave him the best chance to be attacking at the end of the race,” Ferrari technical director James Allison told Sky Sports F1.
“To be honest his pace was good on both tyres and the reason he was able to be in touch at the end of the race is because all the way through that middle stint when he was on the prime tyre he was not losing any time to the others who were on the options. That is what set up the end of the race.”
Over 15 seconds behind Nico Rosberg after his final stop, Raikkonen already looked poised to grab second place out of the German’s grasp before a brake problem on Rosberg’s Mercedes handed the position over without a fight. With an identical brake glitch also developing on Hamilton’s Mercedes W06 with the chequered flag nearly in sight, Raikkonen was ultimately beaten by the small margin of 3.3 seconds as his Ferrari followed the world champion over the line.
"We did more or less the maximum, but of course finishing second is disappointing, but you have to be happy with the points," said Raikkonen.
"I think we did the right calls and the right tyres. The pit-stops were good so we just have to get higher up at the start of the race. I think we have the pace more or less to follow the Mercedes, but if you get in a fight with them you lose the first car a lot. We have to improve a little bit everywhere."
Raikkonen’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel, so impressive hitherto this season, endured a troubled race and finished a distant fifth. A series of unforced errors from the former world champion culminated in Vettel breaking his front-wing and taking an emergency pit-stop that saw him tumble down the field behind Williams’ Valtteri Bottas.
“I was pushing hard and following another car you lose a lot, with hindsight maybe more than I expected,” Vettel told Sky Sports F1. “I probably tried a bit too hard today.”
Catch the F1 Midweek Report on Wednesday April 22 at 8:30pm on Sky Sports F1. Marc Priestley and Mark Gillan join Natalie Pinkham to analyse the Bahrain Grand Prix.
