Maurizio Arrivabene: “Bahrain GP was the perfect answer to critics who claim F1 is boring”. he race witnessed a fascinating strategic duel for victory between Mercedes and Scuderia Ferrari.

Scuderia Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene says that the second round of the season, the Bahrain Grand Prix, answered Formula 1’s critics who claim the sport is boring. Ferrari’s German driver Sebastian Vettel made it back-to-back wins for the Maranello team in the start of the 2018 championship with a superb drive to fend off a late charge from Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and claim his 49th victory in his 200th Formula 1 race start.

The race witnessed a fascinating strategic duel for victory between Mercedes and Scuderia Ferrari, while other notable talking points included Lewis Hamilton’s recovery from ninth to the podium, while Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly finished fourth and Marcus Ericsson scored his first points in two-and-a-half years for Sauber. F1 has come under fire recently regarding its entertainment value, with FOM currently looking at ways to help improve the show by making following cars and overtaking less difficult in the future. But team principal Maurizio Arrivabene insists this race provided fans with plenty of drama and entertainment.

“I think it was a great race of Sebastian and the race, it was full of adrenaline.” – Maurizio Arrivabene said, as reported by Channel 4 – “It was a good answer to the people saying that Formula 1 is boring.” Scuderia Ferrari’s team principal then praised the four-time Formula One German world champion and his team’s consistent performance during the weekend, while he also explained the Italian side’s decision to send a colleague of injured pitstop crew member Francesco Cigarini onto the podium to collect the constructors’ trophy: “The result, with a win for Sebastian, is confirmation of the great job done by the team, of an effective car and of a driver who drove like a true champion right to the very end. It was a shame for Kimi, who would have completed a fine result for the team. We chose to take one of our mechanics up onto the podium as a mark of respect to our colleague Francesco who was injured during the pit stop. The whole team hopes he recovers quickly. We are already preparing for the next race in China and as usual we will give it our all.” – Maurizio Arrivabene concluded at the end of the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix.