Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo, Baku City Circuit, 2019

Raikkonen “got way too close” to Hamilton in qualifying

2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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Kimi Raikkonen said he spoiled his final qualifying lap by getting too close to Lewis Hamilton at the end of Q3.

The Alfa Romeo driver complained on his team radio after the race he “could have done a better lap on my own” had he not begun his last run behind the Mercedes. He ended up six-tenths of a second slower than team mate Antonio Giovinazzi.

He said his qualifying session was “OK most of the time” but “in the end I never managed to put the lap [together] because everybody tried to find position on the out-lap and I got too close to the Mercedes as I was trying to start the lap. It was pretty much done at that point.”

Raikkonen had saved his last fresh set of rubber for his final effort. “I obviously had one new set and on the last one I tried to start the lap and got way too close to the Mercedes,” he said.

“It was shit, but what can we do about it? It’s disappointing.”

Raikkonen team radio from the end of Q3

OK Kimi mode charge and slowing down…
It was fucking shit.It was indeed, yeah.OK we finished P9, P9.I could have done a fucking better lap on my own. So much better.

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7 comments on “Raikkonen “got way too close” to Hamilton in qualifying”

  1. Kudos to Giovinazzi for beating fair and square his very experienced teammate.

    1. That’s what you got from this article? Weird.

      1. And what do you read then? Please explain.

        1. What you should read from this is that Räikkönen didn’t get a good lap in Q3 proven by the fact that he was a second slower than his Q2 time and that’s why he was behind Giovinazzi

  2. Oh please. Total luck. It will be the only time all year he out qualifies him. Just can’t find that Italian driver to get in a Ferrari, can you?

  3. Raikkonen never fails to entertain with his comments.

  4. F1oSaurus (@)
    28th April 2019, 10:31

    Make sense, Bottas was holding back cutting into the gap back to Hamilton. Then Hamilton slows down too and cuts back into Raikkonen’s gap even further.

    That’s the risk of going for a tow.

    Bottas ends up being the only one with the perfect tow. I loved how he laughed about getting pole on the radio. Made it very clear how the strategy failed for Hamilton.

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