Formula 1

Kimi Raikkonen: “I think there was more to take out of the car”

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Credit: Scuderia Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen was not satisfied with the result of Qualifying for the United States Grand Prix, with the Finn only set to start fifth on the grid for Sunday’s race at the Circuit of the Americas.

The Scuderia Ferrari driver set an identical time to that of Daniel Ricciardo in the top ten shoot-out on Saturday, but as the Australian was the first to set a lap of 1:33.577s, the Red Bull Racing driver will start fourth on the grid.

Raikkonen felt Qualifying was struggle for him, and said there was more time to be found, had he got a cleaner lap, but ultimately he will start on the third row of the grid on Sunday.

“Today the car was better than it had been so far this weekend,” said Raikkonen. “After the Friday session we made some changes and in qualifying I had a good feeling.

“We tried our best, but fifth position was the maximum we could get. I think there was more to take out of the car, but in some places it was a bit tricky to get it right. I struggled to put all the corners together, some laps were good and in some others it was more difficult.

“It was a decent qualifying, but for sure it could have been better, so I can’t be satisfied with the result.”

Raikkonen feels he can make progress at the start, and says he will be fighting for every position heading into turn one on lap one, a corner that usually gives opportunities on the opening lap.

“At the start tomorrow it will be quite tight; we’ll try to make a good getaway from the line and see what we can achieve at the first corner…” said Raikkonen.

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