Ferrari's Arrivabene explains Bahrain pitstop stumble

Ferrari's Maurizio Arrivabene shed some light on last weekend's pitstop incident in Bahrain that sidelined Kimi Raikkonen and sent Scuderia mechanic Francesco Cigarini to the hosptial with a broken leg.

Raikkonen was given the green light to accelerate away from his crew following his second tyre change in last Sunday's race.

Unfortunately, the go-ahead was premature as the Ferrari's left rear wheel had not been mounted, the misstep sending Cigarini tumbling head over heels with a broken leg.

In China, Arrivabene explained the sequence of events which led to the painful blunder.

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"We have a procedure to ensure that the pit stops during the race are done in the most safe mode," the Ferrari team principal said.

"In this case, we have three factors. One involves human control, the other involves mechanical, and the other involves electronic device.

"What happened there, we had a mishandling and the rear left was not perfectly read by the electronic device, which then gives the green light."

Arrivabene added that the Italian outfit had reviewed its procedures and the Bahrain incident with FIA race director Charlie Whiting.

"We went through all the procedure together with FIA to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again," he said.

"It's in our interest, because we care about our people before anything else."

Needless to say, Ferrari ramped up its pitstop practice in Shanghai to avoid a repeat of the Bahrain stumble.

Arrivabene also provided an update on Francesco Cigarini who is now recovering back home in Italy.

"Francesco is fine, he went back to Italy yesterday so it's all under control," he said.

"As a team principal, I was talking to him every day. He's at home, it's all okay."

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