While rival outfits lifted spirits of those in the grandstands by creating makeshift boats, dancing or even pretend fishing in the pit-lane during the delays on Saturday, Ferrari declined to join in the fun.

And while standing firm over what his team did, boss Maurizio Arrivabene even reckoned that what rivals did was not really good for fans.

“We are a Formula 1 team, not the Cirque du Soleil,” said Arrivabene. “It’s fine if somebody entertains the public, it’s absolutely fine.

“But we signed autographs for all the people that were waiting, and we took some of the children in wheelchairs into our pit box.

“We prefer to do these things, rather than simulating fishing and doing funny things for the TV. That is not really doing something for the fans."

Raikkonen unimpressed

Kimi Raikkonen also reckoned that F1 did a disservice to itself with the way that some teams behaved on Saturday.

When asked why he did not take part in any of the pit-lane antics, Raikkonen said: “You want an honest answer? I think this is F1 and not the circus.

“The people are obviously not happy when we’re not running but we cannot make them happy with whatever we do apart from running [on track] and we couldn’t give it because of the weather.

“Sometimes, it’s no wonder when people start thinking about what F1 is, when these kind of things happen.

"This was everyone’s choice but, for me, we are here racing and doing our work.”