Marchionne: We are a bit embarrassed

The pressure on Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene by president Sergio Marchionne began even before the season started when big boss declared that the team had to deliver from the opening race of the season.

But now three races into the championship they have yet to win a race, and to add insult to injury Marchionne watched in China as his two drivers nearly took one another out of the race in a first corner incident.

"Obviously it's unfortunate, but the drivers were exceptional in recovering what they had lost and this shows that the car is there. Now we have to move on," said Marchionne on RAI TV after the race in Shanghai.

The Ferrari president added, "Even Maurizio thinks like me. On the one hand we are a bit embarrassed, but at the same time happy for the performance. We are growing and we are trying to tame our car. We hope not to repeat this at future races.

"Unfortunately those were the circumstances we landed in, but his recovery was outstanding," added Marchionne who was making a rare trip to a grand prix no doubt expecting his team to at least battle for the win, which in the end they did not and instead finished a distant second to race winner Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes.

Later Vettel was contrite despite earlier casting Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat as the villain and scolding the young Russian before the podium ceremony - that report here>>>

"What happened at the first lap, in the end, is a racing incident. From my side I didn’t really know where to go, I was sandwiched between Kimi and Daniil," explained.

"Obviously I am terribly sorry for what has happened, I mean touching the car with the same colors is not right. It was a shame, because it destroyed both of our races, Kimi’s and mine. At the end of the day we’ve been lucky because we were still able to continue," added the German.

Marchionne acknowledged the apology, "I would have done the same thing and also apologised if I was in his place. He made an innocent mistake and was caught out by a much more inexperienced driver."

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