After expecting the weather to interfere with the running at the Suzuka International Racing Course on Friday, Kimi Raikkonen revealed that his Scuderia Ferrari team made plans to counter it by running more during first practice.
The Finn finished fourth fastest in the morning session, 0.472 seconds behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel, and having completed twenty-two laps, Raikkonen felt it was a positive session to have, especially as the forecasted rain arrived and restricted him to just one installation lap.
Raikkonen felt there was little point to venture on track when the conditions were treacherous on Friday afternoon, as they have limited tyres to use and further rain is forecasted for later in the weekend.
“Today we were expecting to have difficult conditions in the afternoon, so we focused on the morning session,” said Raikkonen. “We did a little bit more running and generally, we worked on our programme like every other Friday. Overall it was not bad and the feeling was ok.
“In the afternoon we did not even try to learn anything; we are limited on tyres and we have to save the full wet compound in case qualifying is run in wet conditions. It’s a pity because we did not do a lot of laps, but at least we have got some ideas.
“As for tomorrow, let’s wait and see what happens in the morning and then through the day. Whatever it will be, we are going to do our best.”
