Arrivabene calls Ferrari tyre mistake "unacceptable"

Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene has labelled his team's tyre selection mistake in qualifying as "unacceptable".

Sebastian Vettel only managed a P9 qualification earlier on, and now he's relying on a literal miracle to win the Japanese Grand Prix tomorrow to try and gain some ground on the runaway leader Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari opted to give both cars intermediates at the start of qualifying on a relatively dry track, predicting that heavy rain was on its way.

The team then called Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen back to the pits to change their tyres to slicks, and the rain then came.

With the rain falling, both drivers struggled to set a seriously quick lap time, making errors in the process.

Vettel refused to blame the team, but his boss was more brutal with his comments.

"From the way things were done, I do not think that pole position was within our reach, but what happened today is unacceptable," Arrivabene told Autosport. "I am very angry. It is not the first time that these mistakes have occurred.

Ferrari will be hoping for better luck on Sunday when the actual race comes around... and Vettel will be doing everything he can to make sure he gets up the grid from P8.