Formula 1

Raikkonen Bemoans Tyre Issue that Denied him Second at Silverstone

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Kimi Raikkonen felt second was his for the taking but for the late race tyre issue at Silverstone - Credit: Scuderia Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen felt certain that second place was his for the taking at Silverstone on Sunday, only for a late race tyre issue relegating him to third behind Valtteri Bottas.

The Scuderia Ferrari driver was in a comfortable second place to Lewis Hamilton only for the tread on his front left tyre to come off with just three laps remaining, necessitating a late pit stop, which saw him drop initially off the podium, before reclaiming the spot when team-mate Sebastian Vettel also had a tyre problem.

“My race wasn’t going too bad until a few laps before the end,” said Raikkonen. “I suddenly had the problem, my front left tyre let go with no warning; the air stayed in the tyre but the rubber part, came off.

“It’s disappointing because without that issue the second place was secured, and we deserved a better result.”

Whereas disappointed to lose second place on what was arguably his best race of the season so far, Raikkonen was much happier with the feeling he hand behind the wheel of his SF70H, and he hopes he can find a similar feeling in the upcoming races.

“We had made some changes to the car and they seemed to have improved the feeling,” said Raikkonen. “When it’s like this you are confident and you can push; I hope that it will be a similar story in the future races.

“However, today we were lacking a little bit of speed against our rivals. We did what we could but obviously there’s some work to be done to catch up the Mercedes in places like this.”

Raikkonen believes the Hungarian Grand Prix in two weeks time could suit Ferrari much better than Silverstone did this weekend, and he admits he is keen to find out where they will sit compared to the teams around them at the Hungaroring.

“This is definitely not our strongest type of circuit,” said Raikkonen. “I’m interested to see what happens in the next race, I guess the Hungarian track should suit our car better.”

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