After Australia and Malaysia it was pretty clear that while the Ferrari F60 challenger was no race winner, errors in strategy combined with reliability issues had resulted in the team’s disastrous start to the season.

Today in the Chinese Grand Prix Kimi Raikkonen ran as high as fifth before taking his one and only pitstop. The strategy would prove wrong as the Finn took the chequered flag in tenth position having been unable to regain so much lost ground. Felipe Massa meanwhile pulled his F60 to a halt early in the race with an electrical problem.

Kimi Raikkonen
“In the early stages, it wasn’t too bad but then, after my stop, I lost grip from the tyres and I was no longer able to push as hard as I wanted, because it meant the car was sliding a lot. A few times, the engine seemed to lose power, especially when I found myself close behind other cars, but then the problem went away on its own."

"Clearly the championship situation looks very difficult. We have made mistakes and we are not quick enough. In Barcelona, when we will have new aero parts, we should be able to pick up some of the grip we are lacking now. I am sure we can be competitive enough to win again but this work will take time. The team is motivated, I’m sure of that and we will all do our bit. Now it is easy to criticize, but we know how to turn things round.”