"Little reasons" prevented Raikkonen from setting fast lap

Kimi Raikkonen endured another poor qualifying session, as the Iceman was eight-tenths down on his compatriot Valtteri Bottas who claimed his maiden pole position under the night sky.

Raikkonen was criticised by his team pre-weekend and didn't do himself any favours by not only being out-qualified by hi team-mate and the two Mercedes, but also the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.

"I think that, overall, the car was better [than previous races], I think there was a lot of potential, but we never really got the lap time out of it," he said. "For many little reasons, but it was obviously far from what I wanted. But that's how it ended up and there's nothing that we can change now.

"We obviously struggled to find the right set-up but, overall, it's been better here than it has been in the last couple of races. Obviously when we start to push in qualifying, it's not exactly what I wanted. In the end, there's always a bit of guesswork involved because the conditions change a lot here, but, like I said, I think there was a lot of potential, but the end result was far from what I wanted."

Raikkonen said that tomorrow is another day and he will attempt to do a better job in what is set to be a thrilling and unpredictable Bahrain Grand Prix.

"Tomorrow is another day, but I'm, obviously, in a far from ideal position for the start, but it's going to be quite a tricky race tomorrow, so hopefully we make the right decisions and make the best out of it."

 

Fergal Walsh

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  • I remember him saying the same things in Aus and Chi....

    • + 0
    • Apr 16 2017 - 10:16

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  • Team Mercedes
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  • Weight 70 kg
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