Raikkonen blames Ferrari error for Q1 exit

The Finn was knocked out in Q1, finishing down in 18th position, after he failed to set a competitive enough time while the track conditions improved in the dying minutes of the session.

Raikkonen said after qualifying that the team had sent him out too late and had not informed him of a change in plan in his strategy during his final run.

An angry Raikkonen expressed his surprise on the radio after he was informed he had missed the cut, saying "How the f*** is that possible?".

"I got certain information from the team and obviously it was wrong," Raikkonen said after qualifying.

"I was doing the same thing that I had been told when we went out and I never got the information that the the first plan was not even possible and we missed one lap completely.

"I was basically doing the normal thing and I was not told that the plan had changed.

"The point is they sent me out too late and we missed one lap and it cost us a lot.

"There was a mistake at some point and they sent me too late out. The plan changed at one point but I was not told."

The Ferrari driver reckons he now faces a difficult race, especially as he fears there will be trouble in the first three corners.

"It's not ideal. We should be much higher up and in the fight in the front," he said.

"We'll try to do our best. It's a long straight, but also very tricky two corners to be in the middle of the pack, so the chances of something happening are much bigger."