Ferrari: Vettel runner-up at Monaco

Sebastian Vettel finished the Monaco Grand Prix in second place. The German spent all 78 laps in the slipstream of Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes, managing to get ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who led for the first 65 laps, until he made a second pit stop.

Vettel crossed the line 4 seconds behind the winner, having run the race at a very competitive pace. Raikkonen also fought hard all race long, showing a strong pace. This is Vettel’s fifth consecutive podium from six starts in “red.”

Today we took everything we could and it is nice to end up in second place.

Sebastian Vettel

This is the sixth consecutive podium finish for the Scuderia in as many races this year. In 2007, Ferrari had five in a row.

This is Scuderia Ferrari’s 49th podium finish at the Monaco Grand Prix. With this result the team further consolidates second place in the Constructors’ championsip.

Maurizio Arrivabene: “Congratulations to Seb for holding Hamilton back in the final laps of the race. It was no easy job because Lewis had super-soft tires, while Seb’s Primes were low on pressure because of the laps he had done behind a very slow safety car. In the key moment of the race Iñaki Rueda, our race strategist, told everybody to keep calm and stay out on track, while the Mercedes came in for fresh tires. I am aware of the fact that we were lucky, our competitors are intelligent and very strong, but we outsmarted them this time.

As for Kimi, he has a problem with qualifying, because he’s always strong on race pace. When Ricciardo got past him, I was determined to have a hard look at the rules, but then I was told that now the move is allowed when the driver in front opens up the line and the one behind manages to put at least on wheel inside.

So we respect the Stewards’ decision. In the next races we’ll not be standing still, we have some developments in the pipeline, but if luck comes again, we are prepared to take advantage. Anyway, so far we’ve always been on the podium this year, and the gap is not massive. Maybe on some tracks we will experience the same issues that we had in Barcelona, but on other circuits we can be stronger”.

Kimi Raikkonen: “We knew that after starting from sixth position it would have been a difficult race. I was all the time behind slower cars and there was no way to overtake them even if I had a much better pace. At the the pit stop we managed to pass one Red Bull, we gained one place but we lost it for a stupid reason. I was following my normal line when Ricciardo hit my rear tire and pushed me wide, regaining the position.

It’s not very clear what you are allowed to do, it’s really odd but there’s nothing we can do. For the next races we have to make a better job overall to make sure we get tires working and things sorted out without mistakes on Saturday in qualifying. This will make our life a lot easier on Sunday. Now we go to Canada a bit happier overall but it’s too early to make predictions, we have similar tires but the layout of the track is completely different, so let’s wait and see.”

Sebastian Vettel: “Today we took everything we could and it is nice to end up in second place. I tried to be agressive on the start, but I couldn’t get the second position straight away. We had a good pace and we put the Mercedes under pressure, closing the gap on the pit stop and not letting them get away at any point, but obviously it was not enough. We tried the undercut but they replied a lap after and unfortunately they came out in front.

In the last laps Lewis with the Supersoft tires behind me was putting a lot of pressure, it was really difficult because for some laps my tires were really cold and I was struggling to make sure I stay on track, I was focused on having good exits. There is still something we need to understand and to learn, if it’s colder in qualifying on one lap it is difficult to get the tires work; this is something we need to improve.

I want to thank the guys in Maranello, the engine was fine and very good on the straights so that we were safe staying in front. In all areas there’s a lot of work going on because we want more, we keep our feet on the ground knowing where we want to go and were we want to be. I’m very happy, it was a great race and the team gave 100%. In Canada the track layout is totally different, but we will try to be competitive there as well.”

Scuderia Ferrari