Sebastian Vettel says his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen deserves better results than he has scored so far this season.
Raikkonen is the only one of the top five drivers in the championship not to score a podium at the opening three races of the season and heads to Russia off the back of a disappointing fourth place finish in Bahrain. Meanwhile, Vettel has scored two wins and leads the championship with double the points of his teammate.
"I think he probably didn't have the races he deserved," Vettel said in Russia. "At the last race obviously the start and the first lap cost him a lot, otherwise I'm sure he would've been on the podium.
"I see exactly what happens [from inside the team] and things didn't go 100 per cent in his direction so far... but I don't think there's any doubt inside the paddock that he's one of the most talented drivers we have. I don't think anybody else could go to WRC and perform at the level he did, just come back and be right up to the pace again.
"I don't think there's anyone who doubts his skills or his talent but, as I said, you need to have a lot of things coming your way. If you look back last year, I had some races where things didn't come way -- it's up and down but usually throughout the season it sort of equals out."
In Bahrain, Valtteri Bottas was told to move aside for Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, effectively giving Hamilton second place without a fight. The move has ignited the debate about No.1 and No.2 drivers at the top two teams, but Vettel says the situation at Ferrari is clear.
"I think the way we've raced in the last two and a half years, everything is straightforward. Sometimes it was close, sometimes it was too close as well -- I remember China last year from my side, that was never ideal -- but you try to fight your teammate as well as all the others, but more than anything I think we know and we understand that we're racing for Ferrari."