What are the major differences in qualifying pace versus race pace? We have generally seen Kimi Raikkonen qualify poorly and then his race pace is much better, whereas Lewis Hamilton is constantly on it whether it be qualifying or the race. Is it simply down to the car being less aggressive over a race distance and more manageable?
Steven Eaglesham, via email
For qualifying you need the tyres to give you the grip after only one warm-up lap. To achieve this is quite difficult, especially getting the fronts working.
If you don't get them working the car becomes unbalanced with lots of understeer. This is something that hurts Kimi more than most as he likes a car that's very responsive to his steering input.