Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo, Circuit de Catalunya

Raikkonen: ‘If we did the weekend again we’d be stronger’

2019 F1 season

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Kimi Raikkonen says Alfa Romeo used the post-race test at the Circuit de Catalunya to understand why it suffered its first point-less outing last weekend.

The team suffered a setback on the first day of testing when rookie Callum Ilott crashed their car. However it was repaired in time for Raikkonen to take over on Wednesday.

“Obviously after [Tuesday’s] issues in here our testing changed slightly,” he admitted. “But nevertheless I think we had a good day.

“We understood quite a few things and we had time to try things, see what happens. I think if we do the weekend again we would be stronger but nevertheless it was an OK day.”

Raikkonen, who covered 110 laps during the test, had to use a different chassis following Ilott’s crash. “It’s not the same as my race chassis obviously but it’s a good chassis,” he said.

The team ran through a mixture of set-up changes and new components on Wednesday, which Raikkonen believes has given them information which will be useful at other circuits as well.

“I think it’s going to help everywhere,” he said. “Obviously we don’t have all the tools that we want right now but we’ll know in the future what we’re going to get.”

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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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7 comments on “Raikkonen: ‘If we did the weekend again we’d be stronger’”

  1. I still can’t believe how Ferrari traded his ability to set up a car so easy . They seem lost in chassis development without him.

  2. Lol, you do know he was actually way more better with setting up and developing the car and that was the main reason Ferrari kept him right

    1. I do know that’s what his loyal fanbase keeps telling itself to soothe the cognitive dissonance. However, the mere repetition of a laughable claim (cf. “lol”) does not make it a fact. Absolutely no one with any sort of insight has ever backed this claim, so the term ‘myth’ seems more appropriate.

      The main reason for them to keep him was a misguided focus on avoiding an intra-team battle and maximising their chances of success by having a pleased designated #1 driver as well as a minimal risk of losing crucial points by having the wrong driver finish ahead.

      1. But it is a fact that since he got the news that he has to step down for Leclerc in Ferrari he outperformed Vettel fair and square in 2018 ? And currently holds the record for fastest lap ( average speed ) , and actually won a race ( after holding still behind N1 Ferrari drivers on at least 5 occasions during his second stint with them ). Race is not about outright speed but more like managing the tyres and fuel nowadays – Barcelona Q3 time was 1min 16 sec , race pace was ~ 1 24 sec, in F1 terms of performance it is equal to ages difference. As you can see even Mercedes got it wrong big time last year on a few occasions – destroying tyres on a few occasions….. And yes Ferrari are lost in setup so big, I even wrote it here somewhere last year that it will happen….>>> “Vettel “sad” to lose his ‘best team mate’ Raikkonen”

        13th September 2018, 15:36

        Feedback to engineers, chassis setup, tyre wear will be the main points that will make Raikkonen being missed at Ferrari.
        Quite the opposite and positive for Sauber – they will get all of that and I have a feeling that Kimi , with a team built around him will perform better and expect Sauber to be the next best Ferarri engined team. I am sure a lot of the know how of 2018 car SF car will be transferred to 2019 Sauber. Bear in mind that development of power units is at its peak ( took Ferrari 3 years to acheive and takes Mercedes now quite some time to match ) – meaning Ferarri engined cars will have the power advantage. Aero, chassis and tyre management are best explored and dependent by the driver experience. A good example is Kimi in Lotus days – he achieved a couple of wins and P2s with 1 stop strategy , whereas everyone was on a 2 stop.

        1. @cordoba16vt

          But it is a fact that since he got the news that he has to step down for Leclerc in Ferrari he outperformed Vettel fair and square in 2018 ?

          The answer to that is: No, this isn’t a fact. This, too, is a mere myth.
          Charles Leclerc was announced as Räikkönen’s replacement on September 11, i.e. ahead of the Singapore GP. In the remaining 7 races:
          – Vettel outqualified Räikkönen 6-1
          – Vettel finished ahead of Räikkönen 3-3 (it was going to be 4-3, but Räikkönen’s DNF in Abu Dhabi prevented that)
          – Vettel outscored Räikkönen 94-87

          Granted, with the exception of qualifying, it was closer than in the first 14 races of 2018. But Räikkönen’s part in that was negligible. It was Vettel’s mistakes that brought him closer, or rather, the frequency of his mishaps. Out of 4 major mistakes Vettel made (crashing in Hockenheim, spinning in Monza, Suzuka, and Austin), 2 happened in those final 7 races.
          His spin in Suzuka cost him at least 14 seconds in one lap, not counting the damage it may have done to his tyres, and of course, it forced him to work his way back through the field, resulting in no less than 15 on-track overtakes. He still finished a single place down on and no more than 19 seconds behind his team mate after starting 5 places further down the grid. Not too difficult to tell who was the faster Ferrari driver that day …
          Austin was a similar story. Räikkönen may have won the race, but the crucial ingredient for that was the fact that Vettel spun in the opening lap. He finished the race 18 seconds behind Räikkönen after passing more than half the field on the track, so, again, not too difficult to imagine which Ferrari driver would’ve come out ahead without that spin.
          In fact, the only time Räikkönen outperformed Vettel ‘fair and square’ was in Brazil. Vettel was nowhere near Räikkönen’s pace that day, but again, the crucial ingredient for that wasn’t really Räikkönen’s performance but a sensor fault on Vettel’s car.

          I know my facts rather well, thank you very much.

          1. F1oSaurus (@)
            17th May 2019, 20:00

            Raikkonen did outscore Vettel til Abu Dhabi where he had the DNF. Although Raikkonen probably already knew in Monza what was going to happen and then he beat Vettel.

            Yes Vettel made it back to the last place of the A-class cars. That’s hardly impressive. Raikkonen did the same. Even when he was used over and over as a pawn to aid Vettel’s WDC chances

            The point is that Vettel kept making these blunders which caost him the whole sot at the WDC to begin with. 7 races ruined because of blunders.

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