Kimi Raikkonen believes his Scuderia Ferrari team had a much stronger 2016 season than the results implied, with the team showing good signs of improvement both on track and behind the scenes during the year.
The Finn finished sixth in the final standings, twenty-six points behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel, and took four podium finishes in the first half of the year but more often than not found themselves behind both the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team and Red Bull Racing last season when the pre-season aim was to fight for race wins and the championship.
Raikkonen admitted that failing to take victories and ultimately finishing seventy points behind Red Bull and 367 behind Mercedes hurt the team, and they are looking to reverse that form when the new regulations come into effect in 2017.
“You suffer and we keep working hard and trying the best we can, but unfortunately the results weren’t what we wanted,” said Raikkonen on Autosport. “Thanks to all the guys, we keep trying things and improving and learning.
“That’s why I feel that we’re in a stronger position even than the results really showed but as a team we’ve been working very well. If you purely take that, hopefully then next year when we bring the new car it’s more competitive and I’m sure we’re going to have a good fight.”
