Kimi Raikkonen cut a frustrated figure following a DNF on F1’s return to Mexico. The Finn was involved in yet another collision with his compatriot Valtteri Bottas as the two jostled for position, but unlike in Sochi it was the Ferrari driver who came off worse this time. The 2007 world champion speculated that the incident may have been Bottas’ idea of retribution for their last lap collision in Russia.
“About the accident with Bottas, there are always two different ways to look at things, everybody can have their own view, but, to be honest, I did not expect a much different end result. It’s racing in the end, but I think I was expecting that it probably might happen after Russia. Has he done it on purpose? I don’t know, you can decide yourselves, it doesn’t change the final outcome right now and it’s not going to change anything for me for the future.”
At a circuit where many thought Ferrari could take the fight to Mercedes, Raikkonen’s retirement capped off a miserable weekend for the Scuderia, as teammate Sebastian Vettel also failed to make the finish. The ‘Iceman’ though is still hopeful of a strong finish to the season in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.
“Obviously we had a pretty poor weekend, we were a bit unlucky on many things, and it’s not the nicest feeling for all of us, but we are still a strong team. It was an unlucky situation for both Sebastian and me, but that’s how it goes sometimes. As a team, we haven’t lost anything, we just had a pretty difficult weekend and I’m sure we can be back in the next two races, trying to finish the season strongly.”
