Formula One news

Ferrari boss confused by Kimi's lack of pace

Kimi Raikkonen struggled throughout the German Grand Prix weekend and ended up bringing his Ferrari home in sixth place. The result lost him ground in the championship as he fell seven points behind Lewis Hamilton. Raikkonen's team boss Stefano Domenicali was confused at the Finn's lack of pace.

"He was not happy at all with his car's behaviour since Friday," explained Domenicali. "He said the car was too nervous at the rear and he couldn't have the grip that he wanted. If you compare that with what we have seen during the test last week this is the reason why I said I don't completely understand the reason why because last week we were pretty competitive in the last sector so we need to analyse a lot.

"He was not happy with the general grip of the car. He couldn't be aggressive, he felt the rear was still too loose and it was not possible for him to be on the pace that he wanted. If you look at the first stint it was the best in a way. It took a long time before he caught Robert Kubica."

It was pointed out that it was not the first time that Kimi has struggled with the setup between the test and the race weekend. Is the window of the set-up quite small on the Ferrari or is he generally having more difficulties to find it than Felipe? 

"For sure the window of setup can be wider if you go to the direction that is not taking the car where you want," said Domenicali. "Generally speaking the difference is not so big but that shows how the car is, very sensitive if you don't do the thing properly.

Raikkonen was not really showing a champion's form, it was suggested. "Well, you have to look at the points. The thing I don't want to do now or ever is to make a risky conclusion of the driver situation, because as we said for example in Silverstone for Felipe, after that race, I didn't want to say something and in the other direction with Kimi. So for sure he is the first one not to be happy about the situation but I'm pretty sure that he's very keen to react straight away in Hungary, as we are all together."

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