Ferrari was not happy with Kimi Raikkonen’s performance after qualifying in Shanghai.
Until now, the Maranello team and the Finn have said Raikkonen, after a poor 2014 season, is fully back up to speed this year with the vastly improved SF15-T car.
But Raikkonen’s troubles only continued on Saturday, and this time Ferrari did not point the finger at incidents that have exaggerated the gap to his on-form teammate Sebastian Vettel.
"I’m happy with Seb’s position," technical director James Allison told Britain’s Sky after qualifying in China, where Vettel qualified third behind the two Mercedes.
"Less so with Kimi’s. We had hoped for a little better," added the Briton, referring to Raikkonen’s P6, behind both Williams cars.
Raikkonen told reporters that he simply had no grip with a new set of tyres in Q3.
"I was just sliding around," he is quoted as saying. "I had a Sauber in front of me but I don’t really know why (I struggled).
"Unfortunately it is becoming a habit that I need to stop."