quote2017 Mexican GP: Kimi Raikkonen reaction and impressions after FP1 and FP2
A unique track makes for a unique challenge. At the end of a busy Friday, Scuderia Ferrari drivers gave their comments on the Mexican circuit and their runs with the SF70H, during which all three tyre compounds were tried out in both fast-lap and long-run configuration. Scuderia Ferrari Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen said that it was another “tricky” Friday free practice at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the Maranello team but the 2007 Formula One world champion is not discouraged by his car’s potential ahead of the 2017 Mexican Grand Prix.
The Finnish driver ended the second practice session fifth fastest with a best lap of 1m 18.142s to keep within four-tenths of pace-setter Daniel Ricciardo, while Kimi Raikkonen remained less than one-tenth off of team-mate Sebastian Vettel, and despite the fact that he found the circuit slippery he was content with a “normal Friday” with mixed results: “There’s always going to be work to do and more things to do to make it better but we know it is quite a tricky circuit with the high altitude and always feeling a bit slippery.” – Kimi Raikkkonen said, as reported by Italian national sports newspaper based in Rome Corriere dello Sport at the end of the second practice session, which took place at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez – “In some places it was okay, in others it was not so great but it’s a normal story for Friday when we are trying things. You always hope that everything is straight away everything perfect but that’s not normally the case. Every year it is tricky here because it’s always a bit slippery due to the high altitude and lack of downforce. It was just the first practice and we can improve. In the evening we will go through everything, figure out what’s best and get ready for tomorrow.” – the Finnish driver explained.
While Kimi Raikkonen fought against his struggles with the slippery Mexico City circuit surface his team-mate suffered with a broke fire extinguisher midway through FP2 which forced a halt to Sebastian Vettel’s long run. Come the end of the second free practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel drove his SF70H car to the fourth fastest time of 1’18”051, which was 91 thousandths faster than team-mate Kimi Raikkonen’s lap of 1’18”142. Seb did 35 laps and Kimi 40.
Something doesn´t fit in the quali Dave told Kimi the tyres sensores were not working. No clue if that bothered him. But he was not very fast the whole weekend. Come on Kimi! Show us a strong race
quoteKimi Raikkonen reflects on problems in qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix
Scuderia Ferrari Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen made no secret of his disappointment after taking only fifth place in the qualifying session for the 2017 Mexican Grand Prix on Saturday held at the Hermanos Rodriguez Circuit, adding that the session was “pretty poor”. As his Scuderia Ferrari German teammate Sebastian Vettel swept to his fourth pole position of the 2017 Formula One championship after a stunning final lap in Q3 to edge out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen struggled to fifth place in the final classification with a lap in 1’17”238, three-quarters of a second back from his teammate. Both drivers ran Supersoft and Ultrasoft tyres.
Asked to comment on what happened in qualifying, the 2007 Formula One world champion called it “pretty poor”, saying: “I struggled to put any decent laps together. I just tried to put one lap together in the end, but it was not easy. Obviously it was very difficult to put any decent laps together, made a mistake here, a mistake there and was lacking grip. In the end I tried to put one lap together to get somewhere and that’s it. The race should be OK, but on one lap I struggled for grip, so we will see.” – Scuderia Ferrari Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen, as reported earlier today by Italian national sports newspaper based in Rome Corriere dello Sport.
quoteMexican Grand Prix - Kimi comments about the race
After yesterday’s difficulties in qualifying, third place is not too bad, but obviously it is not what we were looking for. The start was not too bad, but then I moved to the left and lost the tow. I found myself blocked and lost many places in the first two corners. Then I had to wait for the cars in front to stop, to be able to push and gain positions. My car was a bit better than yesterday and we had decent speed. Once I was third, I could try to catch up, but I was too far from Valtteri and there was nothing I could really do. I focused on finishing the race and on keeping my position. This year we have made a good step forward from last season, but obviously we still have a few small things to improve. I think that in this season we’ve had a good and solid car. Lately we’ve had some issues, but the speed has been there. Obviously too many DNFs cost us a lot in the Championship. For next year we have to minimize those issues, improve things and learn from this season.
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Sat Oct 28, 2017 1:15 pm (Last edited: Sat Oct 28, 2017 1:17 pm)
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No good place for acid and cold liquid 
