Raikkonen denies brake-by-wire problems

2014 Malaysian Grand Prix

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Kimi Raikkonen denied saying he has had trouble with his car’s brake-by-wire system.

A media release issued by Ferrari last week quoted Raikkonen saying: “We identified some general problems which we have to tackle in Maranello and there are other aspects linked to the set-up on my car to do with the brake-by-wire system.”

“Getting this device working correctly is definitely something that contributes to the general feeling from the car,” he continued, “because it has a great effect on corner entry.”

However when asked about the brake-by-wire system in the Malaysian Grand Prix press conference Raikkonen denied having said it was a significant problem.

“I don’t know where that came from, I mean it’s not the issue and there is nothing wrong with the system,” he said.

“Somebody asked me after the race and I said this is not that because they kind of said there’s some issue, and it’s not true.”

Raikkonen said his priorities with the F14 T are “just mainly set-up to get the car as I like it, how I need to have it”.

“I’m sure once we are making some stuff for me so hopefully once we get those it will get a bit more easy, get a bit more feeling in the front end. So it will take a little while.”

“After all the difficulties over the weekend and how difficult it was in many areas, just the small things, at least we got something out,” he added.

“And it’s going to be a long year so hopefully we can now just build on it. We have plenty of good people and they’re working flat-out as a group to improve things. So we still have things to do but I’m sure we can keep progress.”

Asked whether he had tried working in the team’s simulator to solve his handling problems Raikkonen answered, “no”.

2014 Malaysian Grand Prix

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Image © Ferrari/Ercole Colombo

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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25 comments on “Raikkonen denies brake-by-wire problems”

  1. Asked whether he had tried working in the team’s simulator to solve his handling problems Raikkonen answered, “no”.

    Seriously, why not? Ferrari have a good simulator, I’m sure it can’t do any harm, can it?

    If this is just a case of Raikkonen not wanting to improve the handling problems merely because he doesn’t want to drive in the simulator, that’s unprofessional.

    1. He never said he hadnt tried using the simulator. He said he had not tied using the simulator to solve his handling problems, because the simulator cannot solve his handling problems – only an update to the car can.

      1. because the simulator cannot solve his handling problems

        @joshua-mesh I’m pretty sure it can, that’s the entire point of a simulator.

        1. No, it cannot. A simulator only replicates the data fed to it, so while they can do setup changes, they cannot evaluate an update until they know the effect that update has had.

          Kimi clearly said “we are making some stuff for me so hopefully once we get those it will get a bit more easy”, which means its not only a setup issue, but it is a component issue that will be fixed once the parts come out of the oven.

          I’ve worked with racing simulators before.

          1. @joshua-mesh Hm, alright then. Still, I’m pretty sure it can’t harm him to jump in the simulator once in a while, right?

          2. He never said he doesnt. He said he does not use it “to solve his handling problems”, which he said can only be solved by “making some stuff”.

          3. Actually, the question was “are you TEMPTED to use the simulator …..” IIHC

    2. Does seem strange that he does not want to do that, yeah. Compare Vettel who spend days in the simulator to get the setup and driving technique for the exhaust blown diffuser exactly right.

      Especially since they had 2 weeks in between the races. Although it looks as if Kimi knows what he wants to change and its something the team have to do / bring from what he mentions.

      1. That’s the point, I guess. He doesn’t want to fine tune his handling of the car, he wants to change the car to suit him better. Not much the simulator can help in this case, though I’m not saying “cool that he is not working the simulator”. It’s not cool, actually. If it doesn’t help him, it would at least help develop the simulator itself (which would help him eventually).

        1. Well for all we know, he might be working in the sim just as much as the next guy. He never said he does not use the simulator. He simply said he doesnt use the simulator to fix a component issue.

    3. doesn’t Raikkonen get sick in a simulator or am I thinking of someone else?

      1. That was Schumacher.

        1. I do remember reading that Kimi had something alike too though @eamon, @samh123

        2. That was Badoer who get dizzy while using it, i never heard that about Schumacher…

      2. Yes he does.

  2. Well, on the bright side, at least the “Alonso is downplaying his car” comments are fading and instead people are finally beginning to acknowledge that the Ferrari car does indeed have serious problems.

    1. Every car has its own problems. The point of F1 is to upgrade your car to remove those. I think its premature to say that Ferrari have insurmountable problems.

      1. @joshua-mesh
        When compared to Red Bull in the past few years, Ferrari have had insurmountable problems, especially with traction and tire heating. Of course, some people were quick to point out that it must be a drivers’ problem.

  3. A media release issued by Ferrari last week quoted Raikkonen

    Does anyone seriously believe that the quote from Kimi in the Ferrari media release is something he has actually said? Surely its just Ferrari’s PR person putting words in his mouth.

    1. @tomcat173 This. This is why I pretty much disregard every weekend preview, it’s all pre-written by someone in the PR department.

  4. A media release by Ferrari? Aren’t we sure it was just quotes from Raikkonen?

  5. I think it’s as simple as he wants a more pointy front end. The car is understeery which suits Alonso. Kimi wants Oversteer.

  6. Also after the first race he told media he had some issues under braking, I think he didn’t pin point a cause or tried to find an excuse, I think things got lost in translation, or as in the past couple years Lotus wrote things without raikkonen’s following.

  7. Isn’t this an interpretation of the word “problem”. The quote claims that he had a problem with the setup of the brake-by-wire. Now he says the component doesn’t have a problem in the sense that it isn’t broken and that it’s just a setup issue.

    Sounds to me like he’s actually saying the same thing as that earlier quote.

  8. And here’s the man who once said that these cars would be no different to drive than last years machines. I wonder if there’s a Finnish recipe for humble pie?

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