Ferrari Review – Räikkönen manages to keep hope alive

Ferrari made the best move of the day thanks to Kimi Räikkönen’s victory at the end of a very unstable race. The Finnish driver is now 7 points behind Hamilton and maintains his title chances for the final race in Brazil in two weeks.

The Ferraris took advantage of the rain to choose timely and opportunistic strategies, which allowed Räikkönen to overtake Hamilton but somewhat penalized Massa when the weather was not in his favor.

Jean Todt – Director

« It’s important to be able to celebrate our 100th victory in Formula 1 here in China, with difficult, changing, and unpredictable conditions. Kimi [Räikkönen] secures his 5th victory, and it’s the third for the team. He raced incredibly, without making the slightest mistake. »

« Felipe [Massa] had a good race and particularly helped us when we had to choose between slick or grooved tires. Unfortunately for him, the rain reappeared to cut his momentum. »

« The whole team had a hard time after the Fuji race where we deserved much more… I also want to congratulate Toro Rosso for their race. It’s great to see four Ferrari engines in the points. We know bringing back the driver’s title would be complicated, but we will keep pushing until the end! »

Kimi Räikkönen – 1st

« I am very happy! It’s a very good result for me and the team. We needed this victory and we got it. At the beginning of the race, I had a lot of understeer, but over time the situation improved. I saw that Alonso was fast, but I controlled the situation… »

« Last week in Fuji, we were unlucky, but today things have changed. We had yet another example that in this sport anything can happen. In the championship, it is very tight, and the title does not depend solely on me. So I will do everything to win it, and we will never give up. »

Felipe Massa – 3rd

« I would have liked to fight for victory today but the weather conditions were not favorable and my tire changes did not benefit me. The rain came back immediately, and it was really difficult to stay on the track with the slicks. In any case, in these situations, you can always take risks, sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t…

« In the end, I finish on the podium. It was an important race for me and the team. There is still one race to win: something can happen, and we must keep working to stay ahead of our rivals. »

Luca Baldisserri – Race Engineer

« It was probably one of the most difficult races of the season, characterized by the very unstable weather, with intermittent rain. »

« Now, we can say that it was a great race for both drivers, who adapted very well to the changing conditions. The race in Brazil will undoubtedly be tough, but we won’t give up! »