Arrivabene urges Ferrari to stay 'realistic'

Maurizio Arrivabene does not want Ferrari to get carried away after ending their winning trophy drought during last weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel’s resounding success in Sepang was the first for the Maranello-based squad since a Fernando Alonso victory at the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.

Having taken over from Marco Mattiacci as team principal last November, Arrivabene set a two-win target ahead of the 2015 season.

Despite having already achieved half of this initial goal, the Ferrari boss urges not to race through the stages on the road towards defeating reigning world champions Mercedes.

“We have to be realistic”, said Arrivabene. “I said at the beginning of the season, two victories. Now we won one race, we have one of two, and sometimes when victories come too early it could be an advantage or a disadvantage.

“So we keep our feet on the ground. I think Mercedes is super strong. As we’ve said many times, we’ll follow our programme. Some people were asking me why I wasn’t showing any emotions and I told you why – I was thinking about the (Sunday morning) brief, I was looking at the data on the screen and going step by step.

If Arrivabene hails Vettel’s stunning race day performance, he is equally full of praise for the whole team and their efforts over the winter.

“I got a bit of emotion for the guys – for the two drivers, for Seb, when he was screaming into the headphones, but mainly for the guys at Maranello because in the last months they have been working like hell… unbelievable.

“This is why I asked (Ferrari chief mechanic) Diego (Ioverno) to go up there on the podium because he represents all those not only with a beautiful mind but also with dirty hands here and in Maranello. He was up there because they represent the passion and the focus of the Ferrari team.”

Click here for Sunday's gallery from the Malaysian Grand Prix