Raikkonen: “After the accident the car was never the same”

A disappointing Malaysian GP for Kimi Raikkonen, only 12th in Sepang. The Ferrari driver was in sixth position at the start when he was rear-ended by Kevin Magnussen. The right rear punctured and the Finn was forced to return to the pits but the damaged tire also caused damage to the floor, causing the car to lose aerodynamic load.

“I'm very disappointed with the result of this race because I started well, but then the contact with Magnussen damaged my right rear tire, forcing me to make an unscheduled stop” said Raikkonen. “This ruined any chance of fighting for a good placing. After the accident the behavior of the car was no longer the same, the tire damaged the surface causing the loss of aerodynamic load” added Raikkonen.

“I had some difficulties with the first sets of tires and only after the last stop, in which I put on the Mediums, did things get better, by which time it was too late. It's difficult to say how it could have gone if I hadn't had this problem, because our rivals were very fast, but maybe I could have finished close to Fernando. It was a truly unfortunate day, but overall we managed to improve our performance and now we must remain focused on the positive aspects of this weekend and work to be able to improve as early as next week in Bahrain" concluded the Ferrari driver.