Raikkonen: “Awful” first lap masked improved race
Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen says his “awful” run through the first few corners of the Bahrain Grand Prix has served to overshadow what otherwise was a race with a lot of positives.
Raikkonen, who qualified more than three tenths down on teammate Sebastian Vettel on Saturday, slipped from fifth on the grid to seventh early on.
As Vettel went on to win the grand prix, Raikkonen eventually recovered to fourth – and the Finn says he was happy with the behaviour of his SF70H in the race, even despite the "disappointing" outcome.
Raikkonen finished over 22 seconds behind Vettel.
"I think the car was working pretty nicely and, to be honest, I expected that. Not much complaints on that side," he said.
"[I had a] sh*t start and then an awful first few corners because of that. Obviously, after that, played catch-up...
"A lot of good things, in a way, happened but obviously the end result is still disappointing, in my book at least.
"Overall feeling [is] a lot better and I feel that I can go fast but obviously the start didn't help."
Raikkonen, who was stuck behind the Williams of Felipe Massa early on but got the move done on the eighth lap, feels he was then unfortunate to end up behind the Brazilian again thanks to the timing of the safety car.
"I got reasonably quickly past Massa - then I was a bit unlucky with the safety car and lost a place again back and then tried to get past him again, and obviously at that point I was a bit behind," he said.
"He [Massa] seemed to be very fast in certain places and already first time around was quite tricky to pass him, it felt a bit more difficult the second time.
"I managed to pass him in the end but it just takes a long time, they're usually very fast in a straight line, Williams."
Summing up the race, Raikkonen added: "The first lap obviously was not the ideal position, and the safety car... it's unfortunate how it went, we had some good speed."
Additional reporting by Ben Anderson
Share Or Save This Story
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Red Bull signs Kimi Raikkonen’s son as junior driver
Who belongs on F1's Mount Rushmore? Pick your four greatest drivers
Lewis Hamilton “lucky to make it round” after Spanish GP brake failure
F1 Spanish GP at Madring: Sunday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vasseur recall GP2 title and 'most impressive race ever', 20 years on
Kyle Larson's winless drought was a bigger deal to you than him
Carson Hocevar spent 20 minutes signing for fans after Gateway finish: 'Some of us are still fans at heart'
Complete NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Gateway
Tyler Reddick goes airborne in Gateway wreck as Christopher Bell rues “missed opportunity”
How Kimi Antonelli is proving unbeatable, even when he's beaten
How Norris unfurled a surprising - and "unrepeatable" - Spanish GP pole lap
Audi’s long road back to the top of grand prix racing
What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 F1 Spanish GP
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments