Raikkonen: “The Mercedes-powered teams seem to be in another category”

Kimi Raikkonen finished the F1 Bahrain GP in tenth position. The Finn said he was amazed at the ease with which the Mercedes-powered teams were able to pass the Ferraris on the straight: “The Mercedes-powered cars passed us really easily on the straight. A Force India pulled alongside me at the exit of Turn 8 and it seemed like it was in a different category. I was surprised. He came out of the pitlane and I only had a few laps on those tyres. I came out of the corner well and he took the inside of me and passed me. I don't have an answer. And in the next corner he also had great traction, it's not just a question of horsepower”.

“I'm very disappointed with today's result, because after qualifying I expected to do better. The start didn't go well and I immediately lost some positions" explained the Finn. “On the first lap I was hit by Magnussen, luckily without any damage, but trying to make a comeback at that point was very difficult, because the lack of downforce and speed on the straight made overtaking complicated. We knew that this is the track that is least suited to the characteristics of our car and also that the Mercedes would be very fast, but the behavior of the car has improved in general compared to the first races and this makes me confident for the next ones. A lot of work awaits us and we will take advantage of these days of testing to try to improve from the next race in China" concluded Raikkonen.