Source: Ferrari Multimedia

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Raikkonen blames bad Ferrari strategy for poor qualifying

Raikkonen blames bad Ferrari strategy for poor qualifying

15-09-2018 17:30
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Jake Williams-Smith

Kimi Raikkonen has laid the blame for a poor qualifying at the feet of the Ferrari strategists after the Finn could only manage fifth on the grid for the Singapore Grand Prix. Ferrari had seemingly been poised for a front-row lockout but was left struggling as their rivals turned up the pace in the final qualifying session.

Both Raikkonen and teammate Sebastian Vettel complained about being dropped into traffic leaving the pitlane, not allowing either driver to prepare their tyres for their qualifying laps. It was something that Vettel asked to be changed ahead of his final run and Raikkonen said cost him a shot at pole.

“I think it was trickier than we expected but then this is what can often happen between qualifying and practice,” Raikkonen told media after qualifying. “It is always different. That is why it is pointless to look at lap times in practice. A lot of things change quickly especially at this place.

“I don’t think we really had traffic on the fast laps but obviously we did on the out laps. I think it was more difficult to make the tyres work but it was pretty straightforward since the start of the weekend. Now it was different and was a big surprise.”

“Everybody seems to be pretty close to each other so it should be quite a hectic race,” he added. “Things usually happen here so we will try to make the best of the situation.”

Going into the weekend, everyone had expected Ferrari to show their pace and leave title rivals Mercedes behind on a track the Silver Arrows struggled on in the past but a surprising turn of pace and a monster lap by Lewis Hamilton denied the Scuderia a sniff of the front row as Max Verstappen snuck his Red Bull into second place, ahead of Vettel.