Hungarian GP: Kimi Raikkonen says new Pirelli F1 tyre hurting form
Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen believes his form has been harmed by Formula 1's switch to new Pirelli tyres from this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix
The Finn has been unhappy with his car throughout the Hungaroring weekend and qualified back in sixth.
"I think it is a combination of the new tyres, the front tyres, they are a bit like last year and they are not as strong as the last ones we ran - that is not ideal for me," said Raikkonen.
"We'll try to work on that. In qualifying it was not too bad, we should have probably run a bit more front wing and been up there at the front.
"But I am much happier now than I was earlier in the weekend.
"It is not a disaster, but it is not as we want."
Asked if he was concerned that Lotus was now going to struggle more in the coming races, Raikkonen said he was optimistic it could adapt.
"We just have to do some changes and improve it," he said.
"We have some ideas but we didn't have much time to do different things over a race weekend so we have to make some plans."
Raikkonen's team-mate Romain Grosjean qualified third behind Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull.
The Frenchman was more upbeat about his race chances.
"The option [soft] is quite tough tyre to make last but medium was OK on our car," said Grosjean.
"It can change things a bit - hopefully tomorrow I can have a go.
"It has been a pretty good weekend so far. There will be different strategies and we will try and get the best from the car when we get some clean air."
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About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Drivers | Kimi Raikkonen |
| Author | Jonathan Noble |
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