‘I finally managed to drive how I wanted’ – Raikkonen

2014 Singapore Grand Prix

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Kimi Raikkonen says he is finally happy at the wheel of his Ferrari despite being struck by a technical problem during qualifying.

Raikkonen was quickest in the first part of qualifying but slipped to seventh on the grid following a software problem on his car during Q3.

But he said he and the team are “going in the right direction” after a difficult season so far.

“I’m very happy with the handling of my car,” said Raikkonen.

“Yesterday we made some changes to the set-up and in qualifying, I finally managed to drive the way I wanted.

“Unfortunately, in Q3, on my final run on new super-soft tyres, a problem forced me to pit. It’s a real shame as I felt comfortable in the car and we had the potential to get a good result.

2014 Singapore Grand Prix

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Image © Ferrari/Ercole Colombo

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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13 comments on “‘I finally managed to drive how I wanted’ – Raikkonen”

  1. Ferrari used to be the most reliable car in the first half of the season. What’s gone wrong?

    I felt very dissapointed after qualy but these are very encouraging words from Kimi. I’m expecting a happy ending to a season, which has been pretty miserable so far.

    1. Kimi’s car certainly hasn’t been reliable. It feels like he has missed at least one practice session (completely or partly) each weekend due to reliability issues.

    2. software glitch..
      WHILE santander_money DO
      IF kimi’s time < alonso's
      THEN divide_by_zero
      ELSE everything_is_OK
      BREAK contract
      END;

  2. Great to hear Kimi is finally getting the car to his liking. Lets hope he can get it scoring now too.

    1. @bascb – Must be the first time this season we heard Kimi say he was happy with the car. Quite refreshing and hope he can stay happy through the race.

  3. Brilliant.

    DC highlighted during quali commentary that the anticipation for having champions at Ferrari would give some glorious ontrack duals. It’s a shame they’ve never really been even enough to fulfill this.

    Hopefully we’ll now see 2 truly capable racers exchange blows

    It also just goes to show how many variables need to be acknowledged and understood before fans should start condemning drivers based on a short time scale

    1. @frankjaeger – Good points. I think some people just like to slam drivers they don’t like. Even my least favorite drivers in F1 are still in F1! Things changed in F1 this season and it affected some drivers more than others. That does not diminish their talents.

      Looking forward to some close racing all through the top 10 drivers this race. Not easy to pass here, but the cars are matched probably more closely than at any race so far this season.

  4. Is it a coincidence that both KIMI and ALO are suddenly happy and feel competitive once….Montezemolo is gone?

    Just wondering why suddenly…! No conspiracies. Just a thought that Lucca probably was not directing the team the best way.
    I hope we have a great race tonight. Cheers !

    1. What a strange thought, that Montezemolo would be involved in the cars’ development and set up.

  5. Good to hear. Last year Kimi got a podium after a tough qualifying with back pain. Maybe he can pull another surprise.

  6. Was is Kimis preference in setup? Over/understeer, brakebias etc

    1. likes a good front end

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