06/04/2009
NEWS STORY
Sections of the Italian and German media claim that seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher was responsible for the decision to put Kimi Raikkonen on to wet tyres too early in Sunday's Malaysia Grand Prix.
While teams had been warning their drivers of rain for some time, it was the 2007 World Champion who, on lap 19, first made the switch to the Bridgestone wet tyres. However, what at first appeared to be a typical Ferrari savvy move soon backfired when the threatened downpour turned out to be nothing more than a light drizzle. Consequently, the Finn was losing up to 20s a lap on his rivals and by the time the rain began to fall in earnest, the wet tyres on the F60 had lost their effectiveness "My tyres are shot," the Finn shouted over his radio.
Now according to reports in the Italian and German media, the blame for the early switch to wets is being laid at Schumacher's door, as the Maranello outfit enjoys the worst start to a season in 17 years.
"We were in a good position at the time of the first pit stop and then we made a mistake," said Raikkonen, "fitting the rain tyres when the rain had yet to fall. And that was where my race was pretty much over.
"In Melbourne, I was the one to make a mistake," he added, "and today it was the team."
Schumacher, an "advisor" to the Maranello outfit, when asked about his involvement in the tyre strategy was quoted by Bild as saying "I would not like to answer that. It is an internal matter."
Felipe Massa says the decision had nothing to do with the German while team boss Stefano Domenicali refused to comment.