Arrivabene: Ferrari must target Mercedes

Sebastian Vettel confirmed the return of the Team Ferrari at the forefront in Melbourne by signing the first podium for Maranello since the Hungarian GP (won by Fernando Alonso). Despite the abandonment of Kimi Räikkönen when he was in fifth place, the Prancing Horse stable made a successful entry.

“We aimed Williams et Red Bull at first. We must now believe a little more in ourselves and narrow the gap on Mercedes », commented Maurizio Arrivabene, Team Principal of the Scuderia. “We knew more or less since (the winter tests) in Barcelona (Spain) what we had in hand. »

The result of the Australian GP, ​​however, does not completely reflect the hierarchy since Sebastian Vettel took advantage ofa strategy error from Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas withdrawn following back pain. “It was a shame that Bottas not be there because that would have given us a better reference. But I think we need to stop thinking about second place and aim for first.”, added the director of the Italian team.

Discover the analysis of the Australian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in the 2003 issue of AUTOhebdo, available now digitally available on all platforms, and on newsstands tomorrow.