Ferrari have admitted that they are to blame for Fernando Alonso's early retirement during the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Spaniard's race came to an end in Sepang after his front wing collapsed and jammed under his front wheel following a minor collision with Sebastian Vettel on the second corner.
Alonso did not pit to repair the damages before he was forced to retire, and his team concede that they are responsible for his exit.
"On the pit wall, the thinking was to leave him out for a lap or two longer to deal with the damage, in order to change the front wing at the same time as the switch to slicks, which was imminent," said technical director Pat Fry.
"With hindsight, we can say the risk wasn't worthwhile. The car still seemed to be competitive and we decided to run the risk of staying out.
"We definitely could have played safe and called him in, but that way we would have ended up behind everyone on rain tyres and would have lost even more ground with the next stop to fit dry tyres."
The race was Alonso's 200th Grand Prix.
