Pit lane reporter and Formula 1 journalist Will Buxton was asked to comment on why Scuderia Ferrari did not use team orders at the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix, with Kimi Raikkonen finishing ahead of Sebastian Vettel:
“With all the fuss about team orders after Russia, the magnifying glass was on both Mercedes and Ferrari in Suzuka. Can you imagine the uproar if either had used them? And yet, with the title in the balance, Ferrari would have been equally as justified as were Mercedes in Sochi in employing such a tactic. That they didn’t poses a key question. Did they fumble the possibility? Did they decide against it on the basis of some recently discovered moral code? Or have they already accepted the championship to be over? Frankly none of those possibilities leaves a very satisfying conclusion for the Tifosi. Depending on how kind you’re willing to be will influence which of those options you believe to be the most likely turn of events.” – Will Buxton explained.
F1 journalists Mark Hughes talked about the fact that Ferrari’s pace was not as strong in the last races as in the first part of the season: “Ferrari delivering a great car (even better this year than last) but the title challenge collapsing in the last quarter of the season. The car seems just a little less in-depth in terms of its development capabilities – one example is in running absolutely flat out, they eventually exhaust their resources. Also this year they have been disrupted by the death of Sergio Marchionne and the management disruption that has followed. Then there’s the pressure element of the title coming into their sights but not quite their grasp. The operational side of the team has not been great and this has fed into that pressure loop and afflicted Sebastian Vettel too.” – he concluded.
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