Kimi Räikkönen admits he will be looking to get things right during Qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend in order to give him an opportunity of a good race on Sunday, with his performances on Saturdays in recent races leaving him with a lot of work to do.
The Scuderia Ferrari driver took his fourth podium finish last weekend at the Circuit Paul Ricard, but this was helped by a first lap clash between Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas putting them out of position, and by a front wing issue for Daniel Ricciardo that saw the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver fall into his clutches in the final stages of the race.
The top three teams have been evenly matched in 2018 but the Finn has found himself starting on the third row of the grid for the past two races, while he has not started on the front row since the Chinese Grand Prix in April.
With the Red Bull Ring being such a short track, with lap times barely over a minute long, Räikkönen says that in Qualifying on Saturday it will be crucial not to be delayed, as it could spell disaster for his grid position.
“This is a very nice track, I have always enjoyed coming here, the atmosphere is great and the people have always been very welcoming to us,” said Räikkönen. “This circuit looks easy on paper, but it’s still difficult to go fast and put a good lap together.
“Usually, we’re all very close here, because the lap is quite a short one and in qualifying you seem to be fighting everyone and the traffic because the smallest delay can make a big difference on lap time.
“The end result depends also on small things, we need to make everything right and tidy up a few things on Saturday to make our life a little bit easier on Sunday.”
Räikkönen admits he is unsure to how Ferrari will perform in Austria compared to their rivals at the front of the field, but he see’s no reason to why they cannot be fighting right at the front.
“It’s impossible to know now how our car will perform on this track; I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be strong, but how strong we’ll have to wait to find out,” said the Finn.
“Hopefully we’ll have a smooth weekend and be up there…”
