Maurizio Arrivabene says it is sometimes necessary to show Ferrari is rallying around Kimi Raikkonen to get the best from him, branding him as 'very sensitive'.

Having returned to the team with which he won the 2007 Formula 1 World Championship at the start of 2014, Raikkonen endured a fraught comeback year, ending the season outside the overall top ten without a podium to his name.

Nonetheless, following an overhaul behind the scenes coming into 2015, Raikkonen has come out fighting, culminating in his first podium since 2013 during the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Indeed, though Arrivabene says much of the outside publicity has been understandably trained on his race winning team-mate Sebastian Vettel, he says it is important to give 'sensitive' Raikkonen similar attention internally to ensure he feels supported.

"Seb in one way and Kimi in the other, they have different characters. Seb is kind of a strong guy, very committed, whereas Kimi needs to feel the support of the team around him - and especially the support of the team principal.

"In Malaysia, I was talking with him after the practice, I said 'Kimi, if you are talking for nothing, expect me to react'. Kimi likes this kind of relationship, where you talk straight to his face. He's called 'The Iceman' but, actually, there is part of the Iceman is a guy that needs you to, not a massage because he is quite strong, but is very sensitive.

"If he feels that the team is around him and is pushing for him as it is pushing for Seb, Kimi can give us very good results. The new news in Ferrari is that we have a team now but we have two drivers - two very good drivers."