quoteRaikkonen wary of another wasted Friday Kimi Raikkonen insists he is fully aware how quickly he needs to get to grips with the F14 T on Friday in Spain after enduring a frustrating weekend in China.
Raikkonen struggled with issues from the outset in China, with suspension troubles limiting his running in both Friday practice sessions. On Saturday the rain jeopardised the final practice session and he then dropped out of Q2, on his way to finishing out of the points in 11th, and Raikkonen knows he needs a good run out on Friday in Spain if he wants to avoid a repeat performance.
"I think there was a lot of small things that influenced what happened [in China]," he said. "I think we could have understood the things much better if we done something in first practice, but then it was wet, so it was not possible to learn whether we had improved because of that. It's an excuse but that's how it went and we know what happened.
"Part of the issue was tyre temperature, but it's the same tyre for everybody so we need to get more knowledge and understand things better. It's difficult to know what to do but in future I hope we can be better and react to those things quicker. Some races it is a help for you, some it is against for you, so it's not just that one thing."
Raikkonen is also fully aware that one good result will not spell the end of Ferrari's problems in 2014.
"It would be nice to get a good result here as that always makes life easier, but getting a good result here rather than at any other circuit is not going to change the year completely. If we get the car running the way we like then we can get the results we want. The important thing is to have a clean weekend."
quoteRacing Engineer Slade knows what Raikkonen requires from the car By Heikki Kulta
What kind of front end of Kimi’s driving style then you will require?
Slade: Kimi is a clinical clean and very smooth driving style. He needs a car that works with him in the same way - not against him. The vast majority of those cars, which I have been working with Kimi, have been just so. Kimi has a very special style to take the car. Therefore, the car must act exactly as he wants it to happen with his driving style. I can understand that, if the team has done various jobs for a long time with a different driver, and then Kimi will take time to get used to what Kimi needs in the garage.
Lotus from the beginning under control Did Räikkönen have then the same difficulties in the beginning of Lotus?
Slade: Yes, Kimi was pretty happy with the car immediately. He did not like it stepped up its control receiver. Even it has its own history. He did not like how it reacts, and it took a while that he was happier with that too. One of the reasons why Kimi was so fast immediately after returning from rally to track was that the car had already served time for a sharp front end and it suited him well. It is something we did not have to change very much that Kimi was even faster. Steering he was not satisfied, but the end of the day it did not have a major impact on his lap time. But when it was better, Kimi went even faster. Into balance, he was happy anyway.
How surprised Slade then there have been the problems experienced with Ferrari by Räikkönen?
Slade: It is a surprise when I know exactly what Kimi is still a very fast driver. Therefore, it’s a surprise to see that he is not able to run so hard, I know what he could do. It is clear that they must be able to resolve the details of his car, so that Kimi will be able to drive back to their capabilities accordingly.
The tire ‘s difficulties Slade spent five years as Räikkönen’s race engineer at McLaren, and then two more in Lotus. Did McLaren have similar problems than now driving Ferrari?
Slade: Not at all, but of course some of the specific issues, when there was more trouble. Last year, we had major problems with the tires in order to obtain operating temperature, particularly at the end of the season. This year’s tires are also very difficult to be used, so Kimi’s driving style maybe in part of the problem. However, I am very confident that as long as Ferrari is able to make the changes the car for Kimi preference, he is immediately again a really fast and competitive.
what other thing Slade said in the interview was that he doesn't know Massa's driving style, but suspect closer to Alonso. so the car is more like Alonso needs while Kimi have different needs. but he said he is sure that Kimi's problem are solvable.
The short break is over. We have had quite a busy time since the last race in China, but now it feels good to get back to racing again.
It's always a nice boost for everybody, when we get back to Europe. Obviously, you don't have to travel that much, as it's only a short way from your home.
I'm not too happy with the results, but as usual, I just look at the next race, not at those we have had, while you cannot change them anymore.
All the time I have been working with my engineer trying to help improve things. But, as I have said earlier, it is not an overnight fix, while there have been certain issues with the front end of the car for my style of driving. We feel that step by step it should be getting where we want it to be.
This is the first time we will go to Barcelona without any pre-season testing at the circuit with the new cars. But as drivers, we know what to expect as there have already been those four races this season.
However, there will be a difference as we now have less downforce with these cars compared to previous years, so certain corners will feel different. We also now have much more torque from the engine.
The team has worked extremely hard to get the car better. Now we will have some interesting running to do on Friday to find out how new things work at the circuit. Let's hope we will get a clean and good weekend.
Unless Nico Rosberg can up his game, Hami will be the easy winner. He was quickest in every sector on his quali sim. And his long run pace was better than Rosberg's.
RB's tyre wear was impressive. Both RIC and RAI ran the medium tyre for their long run sim.. And Ricciardo was quicker and his tyres lasted longer than Kimi. Kimi's pace was pretty close. Most laps the difference was 0.1-0.3s. Alonso ran the harder tyre for his long run sim. It's hard to know what Ferrari were doing in terms of fuel. Alonso was obviously slower than RAI (but tyre delta is 1s from hard to medium).
It seems like Ferrari will fight red bull for the final step of the podium.
And for those who didn't know.. Vettel only ran 4 laps combined in FP1 and FP2. He had an electrical issue early in fp1 and the team was still fixing his car during fp2.
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Thu May 08, 2014 7:20 pm
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