It was a disappointing end to a difficult Monaco Grand Prix weekend for Kimi Raikkonen, with the Finn striking the barrier at the hairpin on a very wet track before pulling off the track and into retirement at the Nouvelle Chicane with his front wing lodged until his front wheel.
The Scuderia Ferrari driver had started the race on the back foot, having started eleventh following a gearbox change, but Raikkonen admitted it was his mistake that pitched him into the hairpin barriers, and ultimately caused him to retire.
Raikkonen’s misfortune also cost Romain Grosjean a number of seconds, as, when attempting to get passed the errant Ferrari around the outside, the Haas F1 Team driver was left with nowhere to go, almost hitting the barrier as Raikkonen was unable to turn his car with the front wing under his wheel.
“Today it was very difficult to get any grip in wet conditions, I was trying to drive as fast as I could but I was very slow,” said Raikkonen. “At one point, trying to downshift, I locked the rear a little bit, went straight and then I just couldn’t turn around at the hairpin.
“Unfortunately I touched the wall, took the front wing out and it got stuck underneath the car. After that I struggled to go forward and in the end I managed to get the car moving.
“When the team told me to park the car I was in the middle of the tunnel and couldn’t stop there, so I went through very slowly and then I parked the car.
“It has been a difficult weekend with a bad end result for me, now we keep working and improving, certainly we can do better next race.”
