Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFerrari

Vettel strategy 'was absolutely right' - Ferrari

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Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene insists Sebastian Vettel's one-stop strategy in the Belgian Grand Prix "was absolutely right".

Vettel was running in third place on a set of 28-lap old medium tyres when his right rear failed just after the exit of Eau Rouge on the penultimate lap. With Vettel furious with Pirelli for the failure, Pirelli hit back by saying he was trying to run too long on one set of tyres.

Arrivabene insists Ferrari was right to try and complete a one-stop race, saying there was "zero warning" from Pirelli prior to the incident that it could be a risk.

"The strategy was absolutely right – the one-stop," Arriabene said. "I want to clear up immediately that when we do the strategy we have the data and the data is based on the strategy. Just to clear up that point. Seb, of course, was disappointed. When you are one and a half laps from third position on the podium and you are going to lose it suddenly, of course you are disappointed.

"I tell you, the strategy normally, even if aggressive is based on clear data that you have, so you are not so stupid or so crazy to take a risk for the driver if you are not reading the data quite right. Don’t worry, our job was right."

Pirelli hits back at teams after Vettel outburst

And Arrivabene says it wasn't a case of Ferrari reacting to the race situation with its strategy, having agreed on the one-stop on Sunday morning.

"It was our Plan A strategy – the main plan before the race. We decided that at 11 o’clock [in the] morning. Precisely. Normally, when you do the strategy at that time during the strategy meeting it is based on data that you have in your hands."

Vettel livid at 'bullshit' from Pirelli after failure

Click here for Sunday's gallery of the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.