Raikkonen welcomes third for team
Kimi Raikkonen said his third place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix had to be considered as a good result for the Ferrari team, given the steps forward it has made since the beginning of the season
The 2007 world champion started from the front row and ran within a handful of seconds of Rubens Barrichello's Brawn for most of the race, giving Ferrari its first podium finish since last year's Brazilian Grand Prix.
"We need to be happy with this result, given the way the team started the season," said the Finn.
"Of course in the bigger picture I'm not happy with third place - I'm disappointed. But, in this situation, for the team it's a good result."
Raikkonen had expected to challenge pole-sitter Jenson Button for the lead into Ste Devote on the opening lap, due to the Finn having a lighter car and the added advantage of KERS under acceleration.
Instead though, he lost a position to Barrichello, and was unable to improve his position over the course of the race.
"It is not the first time I have been in second place and lost position at the start," Raikkonen added. "It is very slippery on that side [of the track], and they were on the soft tyres at the start, so that definitely didn't help us.
"Then I had a little bit longer second stint, but in the second pitstop, Rubens got a long way ahead. I don't know what happened there.
"We're still not where we want to be - we have many things to do to be able to fight for first position - but the people are working very hard at the factory and we have improved the car quite a lot at least."
Share Or Save This Story
Andy Priaulx set to leave DTM to switch to GT racing in 2014
Marc Marquez sets blistering pace in Valencia MotoGP test
Why the DTM doesn't need Britain anymore
What F1 history tells us about three-way title deciders
On this day: Raikkonen’s Suzuka masterclass
The contrasting fortunes of F1's big-name moves to Ferrari
How Ogier’s scary crash opened up Finnish WRC history for Pajari
What role does a MotoGP rider really play in bike development?
Why Lindblad hasn’t felt the pressure in F1
Fairclough finally flies in GB3 at Silverstone as Bedrin maintains his advantage
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments