Ferrari boss admits strategy error
Vettel surged into the lead after starting third on the grid in Montreal, but a rushed pitstop under the virtual safety car allowed Lewis Hamilton to move back in front and Mercedes pulled off a one-stop strategy to perfection.
Published : Jun 14, 2016 03:00 IST
Maurizio Arrivabene admitted Ferrari made a mistake by adopting a two-stop strategy for Sebastian Vettel that dented the German's chances of winning the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Vettel surged into the lead after starting third on the grid in Montreal, but a rushed pitstop under the virtual safety car allowed Lewis Hamilton to move back in front and Mercedes pulled off a one-stop strategy to perfection.
Four-time Formula One world champion Vettel had to settle for second place behind Hamilton, who is now only nine points behind team-mate Nico Rosberg after the leader finished fifth.
The VSC was turned off as Vettel came into the pit lane, so Hamilton was able to grasp his opportunity to move back into the lead and never looked back. Vettel had already suffered as a result of poor strategic calls in Melbourne and Barcelona this season and Ferrari team principal Arrivabene knows his team made the wrong call at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
"We overestimated the degradation of the tyres," Arrivabene said. "That's why we called him in. It was a wrong decision. We don't have to make the story bigger than it is. We made a mistake, but everybody makes mistakes."
Vettel refused to point the finger, stating: "I am not a big fan of blaming anyone and anything. The degradation wasn't as high as we expected."
He now sits third in the driver standings, trailing Rosberg by 38 points.