Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen came across as somewhat aggrieved in the post-race press conference, despite finishing the Russian Grand Prix in third place, right where he started on the grid.
During his podium interview, Raikkonen lamented the role of his Ferrari’s lack of power that hampered the early part of his race, as he spent much of the first stint stuck behind the Mercedes-shod Williams of Valtteri Bottas, whom the 2007 World Champion finally overtook at the first round of stops.
“Of course it’s not exactly what we want. We want to win races and put the two cars as far up as we can. We tried to today. I had a pretty OK start, managed to get Valtteri on the first lap but again after the restart, same like last time here, we just don’t have the speed.
“He managed to get me and then when I tried to get past him obviously Lewis got past me, but we just had to try to run a bit longer and pass them and we managed to do the Williams but not fast enough for Mercedes. Then we had a good speed but with the fuel saving we had to take some measures, so obviously you cannot push as fast as the car can go.”
Later on, the 36-year-old admitted his satisfaction, given the challenging nature of his weekend before underpinning the Maranello-based outfit’s ambition to beat the all-conquering Mercedes team.
“I had quite a big struggle the whole weekend so I’ll take third place but in the race the car was good, like I wanted, but qualifying we struggled, and in the practice. OK, fine but not what we want.”
Finally, Raikkonen cast doubt over his future at Ferrari by responding to one question simply with ‘I don’t know’ before adding: “I have a contract until the end of this year so who knows what will happen next year but I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t enjoy what I do.
“Obviously I have a passion for racing but many things are not in our hands. We can only try to do our best and then see what the future will bring. We go race by race. I’m sure at some point this year, latest next year we will know.”
