Ferrari boss denies team orders between Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen
Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene has played down the team orders controversy after many observers suggested that Sebastian Vettel was favored over Kimi Raikkonen in Monaco.
Raikkonen led the race until the pair swapped places at the pit stops, when Vettel stayed out longer and took advantage over the overcut. Arrivabene insists that no driver will get priority until later in the season, then the points demonstrate who is in the title fight. He also stressed that the constructors’ title is of paramount importance.
“I was reading after Monaco and hearing a lot of speculation about number one and number two,” Arrivabene said Friday at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. “I always said that it’s not that situation in the team. We are looking forward to the championship. We do all our best for the Constructors’ Championship. To be able to do well in the Constructors’ Championship, you need two drivers.
“This is very important for Ferrari," he added. "It’s the only trophy. That trophy, if you are able to win that trophy, stays at home. The drivers’ trophy goes to the driver, of course. I was very, very clear since the beginning of the season in our rule of engagement, the team it’s above anything.”
Arrivabene also insisted that it’s too early to favor Vettel.
“Until the numbers, they’re not going in one direction or in the other direction – I’m talking about the drivers – no team orders," Arrivabene insisted. "This is very, very clear. The drivers know about this, they accept it and I think what’s happening in Monaco, let me say I was also a bit laughing when I heard all these comments – because it’s not the reality.
“There’s no problem in between the drivers," he added. "We are looking as Ferrari to the Constructors’. The Drivers’ Championship is their job. They are free to do it, until the numbers are going clearly in one direction or the other. In that case, we apply our rules of engagement – but not now, and not in Monaco.”
