"It had already fallen off," he said of the main exhaust outlet, "There was the cable of the lamda [
sic] and we decided not to cut that because we would maybe lose more seconds, and we had [Jarno] Trulli pushing behind, so we took that into consideration. I have to say that, in terms of strategy, in terms of teamwork, everything was done correctly."
Although the team has yet to fully ascertain the amount of damage that may have been sustained by the engine, Domenicali is resigned to the fact that Raikkonen may have to use his 'free' engine change prior to the British Grand Prix next weekend. Each driver is allowed one change without penalty provided the replacement is due to true mechanical failure.
"I would say it is quite likely that we will have to replace the engine," he repeated, "For sure, after such a heavy race from the middle to the end, it's very likely that we have to change it, so we'll need to play the 'joker' that allows us to do it.
"We will do the analysis later on, but there's no rush to do anything more than eventually change it when we go to
Silverstone. The maximum the engine lasts is for two races, so maybe it's a bit ambitious to have another race [with it] in that condition. Honestly, I don't know [what will happen], it's difficult to say."
Domenicali also admitted that it was unlikely that the team would be able to pinpoint the exact cause of the failure.
"Unfortunately, it was not possible to understand the problem [at the circuit], and the other difficulty is that, for almost half of the race, all the breaking parts were falling apart, so it will be difficult to collect all the pieces because they're somewhere around the track...."
