Sebastian Vettel was kept in the dark over why team-mate Kimi Raikkonen retired from the Australian Grand Prix, with Formula 1's strict new radio regulations preventing Ferrari from informing their driver.
Raikkonen was forced to retire from the race on Lap 21 due to a mechanical issue on his car which resulted in a fire in the air-box as the car came to a halt in the pits.
The Finn had been running at the sharp end of the order throughout the early stages of the race after enjoying a tremendous start along with team-mate Vettel, leading a handful of laps prior to his first scheduled pit-stop.
Vettel did not find out the reason for his team-mate’s retirement until the post-race press conference, when he admitted that the new radio regulations prevented the team from informing him mid-race.
Despite the stringent clampdown on what can and can’t be discussed via the pit-wall and the drivers, the rules were relaxed to certain extent only several hours prior to the start of the race.
“Until now, I don’t know what is the problem,” said Vettel after finishing third.
“In the past we had a radio so it was nice to hear what was the problem but I was only informed that he had to retire.
“I don’t know why [Raikkonen retired].”
The German was then informed that Raikkonen’s car suffered a fire in the air-box following a mechanical failure.
“Thank you very much,” replied Vettel. “I was not allowed to get that message.”
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