Kimi Raikkonen felt Scuderia Ferrari could do no more during qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix after the team were forced to play second fiddle to Mercedes AMG PETRONAS again on Saturday.
The Finn will start fourth on the grid after being beaten to third in the closing moments by team-mate Sebastian Vettel at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, and felt the team did the best job they could have during the session, even if the front row is their ultimate aim.
“Today we did the best we could and got the most out of the car,” said Raikkonen. “For sure we would have been more satisfied with the first row, but this is the maximum we could achieve.
“We have to be happy with what we did knowing our limits, but obviously our aim is to be higher up.”
Raikkonen knows qualifying is one thing but the race is something completely different, and is hoping to be able to take the fight to those in front of him. He knows the race will be tough on the Pirelli tyres, regardless on what compound drivers use, and the Finn feels starting on the Supersoft tyre was their best option.
“Tomorrow is a different day and if we can make a very strong start we can build our race,” insisted Raikkonen. “Certain teams will start with different tires, time will tell what will happen in the long run, but we felt that starting with the Supersoft compound was the best choice for us.
“It’s going to be a long race, tricky for the tires, and a lot of things can happen; we have to put ourselves up there and if something happens we have to try to maximize our result.
“We’ll try to make the good choice when it comes to pit stops and see how it pans out. Our rivals have been very strong today, but we’ll try our best tomorrow and hopefully we have the chance to challenge them.”
