10/04/2017
NEWS STORY
While some would suggest that fifth was a fair result for the Finn in China, Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne does not agree.
Unimpressed by what he clearly feels was a lacklustre performance which saw Raikkonen fail to get to grips with Daniel Ricciardo early in the race, and then come under pressure from Valtteri Bottas at the end, Marchionne has revealed that talks are to be held in a bid to help the Finn raise his game.
"I talked about this with Maurizio," he said as he left Shanghai at the end of the race, according to Motorsport.com. "Maybe they should sit around a table and he should talk to him.
"Today he seemed to be busy with other stuff," he added. "Vettel was more aggressive."
Whatever the reason for the Finn's failure to take on Ricciardo early in the race, once his teammate was through the heat was on, Vettel and the Australian banging wheels as the German sought to get by and close down race leader Lewis Hamilton.
For his part, Raikkonen's frustration later in the race as he waited to be pitted for fresh rubber produced more of the classic radio interaction we have grown used to over the years.
While the early pitting of Vettel, just before the Safety Car, was bad luck, leaving the Finn out for as long as he was smacked of poor strategy. As a result he was unable to take advantage of the squabbling Red Bulls ahead in the final stages of the races whilst also under pressure from countryman Bottas who had slipped to 12th earlier in the race following his "stupid" moment.
"I think we should have changed earlier," insisted Raikkonen, "but obviously it's easy to look at what happened and say after the race.
"The car was good when the tyres were fresh," he continued, "but it seemed to lose the front and at a place like this, you give a lot of time away and struggle to drive. I feel we should have done much better."
Over the weekend it was revealed that Marchionne is to resign as President by 2019, a move that might also see an end to Philip Morris International's association with the Italian team, Marchionne being a board member of the company which owns Marlboro.
Despite Raikkonen's performance, Marchionne - who feels the Safety Car robbed Vettel of victory - was encouraged by the result.
"It was a nice race," he said, "we finished second, we are second in the constructors' championship by one point and Seb has the same points as Hamilton. That's not bad after two races."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Shanghai, here.