Raikkonen says tyre temperature drop cost him better result
Kimi Raikkonen reckons losing temperature in his front tyres cost him the chance of finishing as best of the rest behind the top three teams in the Chinese Grand Prix.
The Finn came home right behind seventh-placed Daniel Ricciardo and eighth-placed Sergio Perez in Shanghai to claim the ninth spot.
But he reckons he would have had a chance of overhauling the pair of them if he had not lost temperature in his rubber in the closing stages.
Speaking to Motorsport.com, Raikkonen said that his Alfa Romeo felt strong on race pace as he pushed through the field following a disappointing qualifying.
"Obviously we at least got a few points and it is better than yesterday for sure," he said. "The car was handling pretty nicely, but in the end I just lost temperature in my front tyres.
"I think with my tyres the wear was very good, but it got too cold and I lost the grip in the front so I couldn't any more push.
"It was a bit of a shame as I felt we could quite easily have caught up with the other cars, but it didn't work out at the end."
While Raikkonen added to his points tally that leaves him seventh place in the world championship standings – just one point behind Red Bull's Pierre Gasly – his teammate Antonio Giovinazzi failed to finish in the top ten again.
After a frustrating weekend that was hampered by reliability woes, Giovinazzi came home 15th after failing to make enough progress from the back of the grid.
"I think China was not my weekend, to be honest," said the Italian. "It was a difficult weekend so far, and today we tried to make a different strategy compared to others to try to gain positions, but in the end it didn't work. This is it, and I just want it to be Baku."
Vettel "predicted" Verstappen's overtaking attempt
Sainz: Kvyat should have been more patient
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
US fan demand can support "many more" F1 races, says COTA chief
The boss of the Circuit of The Americas believes there is enough demand from North American Formula 1 fans to support “many more” races in the United States.
Aston Martin: CFD data shows rear wing does not hurt F1 rules intent
Aston Martin says simulation data it gave to the FIA proved that its radical rear wing idea did not scupper the intent of Formula 1's 2023 rules to improve racing.
Zhou opens up on abuse ahead of F1 debut: "It hurt quite a bit"
Zhou Guanyu was "quite surprised" by the level of abuse he faced online prior to his Formula 1 debut with Alfa Romeo, saying it "hurt quite a bit."
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time F1 champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24. And now it’s happening again at his current team
Why few would blame Leclerc if he leaves Ferrari in future
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior.
The other McLaren exile hoping to follow Perez's path to a top F1 seat
After being ditched by McLaren earlier in his F1 career Sergio Perez fought his way back into a seat with a leading team. BEN EDWARDS thinks the same could be happening to another member of the current grid
How studying Schumacher helped make Coulthard a McLaren F1 mainstay
Winner of 13 grands prix including Monaco and survivor of a life-changing plane crash, David Coulthard could be forgiven for having eased into a quiet retirement – but, as MARK GALLAGHER explains, in fact he’s busier than ever, running an award-winning media company and championing diversity in motor racing. Not bad for someone who, by his own admission, wasn’t quite the fastest driver of his generation…
Could F1 move to a future beyond carbon fibre?
Formula 1 has ambitious goals for improving its carbon footprint, but could this include banishing its favoured composite material? Pat Symonds considers the alternatives to carbon fibre and what use, if any, those materials have in a Formula 1 setting
The traits that fuelled Alonso's unexpected Aston Martin F1 move
Fernando Alonso’s bombshell switch to Aston Martin sent shockwaves through Formula 1, not least at Alpine that finds itself tangled in a contract standoff with Oscar Piastri. Not shy of a bold career move and with a CV punctuated by them, there were numerous hints that trouble was brewing.