Ferrari were clearly disappointed by the fuel pressure problem that put Kimi Raikkonen out of qualifying and dampened his chances of victory in Sunday's Australia GP.
The reigning Champ was expected to be one of those challenging for pole come the end of qualifying, however, his hopes were dashed in the final minutes of Q1 when his F2008 began to slow down on track.
Although he tried to get back to the pits, he ground to a halt in the pit lane and had to be pushed to his garage by his mechanics. And, according to the F1 regulations, that meant he was prevented from taking any further part in qualifying.
"Kimi stopped on track, the pit lane is part of the track," explained Ferrari's team manager Luca Baldisseri.
"Now we have to check what happened but we could have fixed the fuel pressure problem if he'd have made it back to the pits.
"For Kimi he will just have to do what Felipe did last year and we'll have to wait and see what happens tomorrow."
Raikkonen will start the grand prix 16th on the grid and is hoping that he can at least leave Melbourne with a few points.
"Clearly I am disappointed," said the Finn.
"A few corners from the end of my in-lap, I had a problem with the electronic fuel pump which forced me to stop near the pit lane and so it was impossible for me to get back to the garage to try and fix the problem.
"These things happen, but it's definitely not the best way to start the season. Now we must try to do our best to pick up some points tomorrow, because it is important to score something in every race."
