THISDAY

Ferrari Chief Optimistic Vettel, Raikkonen Would not Clash

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Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene does not believe Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen would clash in the same manner as Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Amid what remains an exclusive duel for the world title, Hamilton and Rosberg have made contact on track three times in the last five races - with their clash on the final lap in Austria last Sunday denying Mercedes a certain one-two finish.

As Mercedes' management work out how to move forward without any more incidents, Ferrari team principal Arrivabene was asked if he could envisage having the same problem on his hands.

"I'll leave this problem to Toto Wolff, it's not my problem!" he replied.

"But I'm quite happy with Kimi and Seb because I don't think that a situation like this could happen with our drivers."

Although Vettel and Rai- kkonen are former world champions, the pair's relationsh­ip is known to be on more friendly terms than the one at Mercedes. But despite the Mercedes drivers' recent runins, Ferrari are yet to capitalise and win a race in 2016. When Hamilton and Rosberg wiped each other out on the opening lap at May's Spanish GP - the only race Mercedes have not won - it was Red Bull who came through to win with Max Verstappen.

Ferrari's victory drought now stretches to 15 races and, ahead of this weekend's British GP, Arrivabene has stressed the importance of the team staying calm. "When you are going to win you are always going up to the sky, because I'm very emotional and very passionate," he said.

"But in this role you have to forget about this, you have to keep calm to look at the season and the next races and to keep the team motivated without going very up and down.

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