Formula 1: Fuel miscalculation costs Raikkonen Belgian GP pole shot
Kimi Raikkonen blamed a fuel miscalculation by his Ferrari Formula 1 team for denying him the chance to compete for pole position in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix
Raikkonen had looked like one of the favourites for pole after topping Q1 and finishing less than a tenth behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel in Q2.
But as conditions improved late in Q3 following a rain shower, Raikkonen was forced to return to the pits because he did not have enough fuel to complete another lap.
The Finn ran out of time to refuel and return to the track and qualified down in a disappointing sixth position.
"I knew how much fuel we had, but honestly I didn't know we didn't have time to refuel and go out again," Raikkonen said.
"I guess we should have stopped when we changed tyres and put more fuel and then we manage to do more laps, but I don't know reasons why. We haven't had meetings.
"We knew how much there was but maybe we should have done differently and brought the car in and a bit more fuel and be out there in the end, but I don't know.
"I think that's what the other car did, so [in] hindsight [it] would have been the right choice.
"I thought we had time enough anyhow to come in and change, but this is what happened."
Vettel did manage to complete a flyer at the right moment, but the German missed out on a pole position shot as well after running out of battery power at Turn 1 in his final run.
The Ferrari driver, who had set the quickest time of the weekend in Q2, finished the session second fastest, over seven tenths of a second behind polesitter Lewis Hamilton.
Vettel admitted he was surprised to find his battery was low and reckons the team could have managed qualifying better.
"I don't feel we put everything together," Vettel said. "The last lap we ran out of battery. It wasn't a nice ending.
"I was surprised myself when I crossed the line and saw the battery was low, which was quite costly. "In the end we should have managed better as a team. I always try to slow down and charge the car but there wasn't enough for the end."
Ocon uncertainty shows F1's structure 'probably wrong' - Hamilton
Renault considering pitlane start to fix Sainz's Spa balance issues
Vettel: F1 should reinvest profits into race promoters to have greener events
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel thinks Formula 1 should reinvest some of its revenue into helping its race promoters put on more sustainable events.
Alpine has "absolutely no worries" of trouble with Alonso during 2022
Alpine Formula 1 boss Otmar Szafnauer remains confident that the team will retain a good relationship with Fernando Alonso, despite the Spaniard's decision to join Aston Martin.
Gasly: AlphaTauri ‘paying the price a bit more’ in closer F1 midfield
Pierre Gasly believes AlphaTauri is “paying the price a bit more” for its inconsistent form due to the increased competition in Formula 1’s midfield this year.
Alfa Romeo: F1 reliability issues have "cost us a fortune" in points
Alfa Romeo team boss Fred Vasseur says unreliability has "cost us a fortune in terms of points" in the 2022 Formula 1 world championship.
How a bad car creates the ultimate engineering challenge
While creating a car that is woefully off the pace is a nightmare scenario for any team, it inadvertently generates the test any engineering department would relish: to turn it into a winner. As Mercedes takes on that challenge in Formula 1 this season, McLaren’s former head of vehicle engineering reveals how the team pulled of the feat in 2009 with Lewis Hamilton
The under-fire F1 driver fighting for his future
Personable, articulate and devoid of the usual racing driver airs and graces, Nicholas Latifi is the last Formula 1 driver you’d expect to receive death threats, but such was the toxic legacy of his part in last year’s explosive season finale. And now, as ALEX KALINAUCKAS explains, he faces a battle to keep his place on the F1 grid…
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24 into a winning car with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel. And now it’s happening again at his current team, but can the rate of progress be matched this year?
Why few could blame Leclerc for following the example of Hamilton’s exit bombshell
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior
The other McLaren exile hoping to follow Perez's path to a top F1 seat
After being ditched by McLaren earlier in his F1 career Sergio Perez fought his way back into a seat with a leading team. BEN EDWARDS thinks the same could be happening to another member of the current grid
How studying Schumacher helped make Coulthard a McLaren F1 mainstay
Winner of 13 grands prix including Monaco and survivor of a life-changing plane crash, David Coulthard could be forgiven for having eased into a quiet retirement – but, as MARK GALLAGHER explains, in fact he’s busier than ever, running an award-winning media company and championing diversity in motor racing. Not bad for someone who, by his own admission, wasn’t quite the fastest driver of his generation…