Kimi Raikkonen was left disappointed after only managing third in the Austrian Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver started the race from fourth position on the grid alongside McLaren’s Jenson Button and had a very strong chance to challenge Mercedes for the win given the alternate strategy his Ferrari team had opted for by starting on the super-soft tyres.
A strong start saw Raikkonen pass Nico Hulkenberg and eventually get by Button to be second behind Lewis Hamilton and only four seconds adrift. However, Hamilton managed to do just one lap less on the ultra-soft tyres than Raikkonen did on the super-soft compound and therefore negated the strategic advantage the Finn had over him. Raikkonen lost track position to the two Red Bull drivers and he lost further ground to Hamilton. Eventually, Raikkonen managed to pass Daniel Ricciardo for fourth place and finally unleashed some pace to close down the one-stopping Max Verstappen.
The final lap collision between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, together with a yellow flag for the crash of Sergio Perez meant Raikkonen was unable to make a challenge on Verstappen, however, he did inherit third after Rosberg trundled to the flag with his damaged Mercedes.
On the podium, Raikkonen described his afternoon: “[It wasn’t] an easy day for us. I felt we didn’t really get what we could have. We had a good speed in the end and maybe a chance to overtake Max but then there was a yellow flag and then, fair enough, he finished in front of me and that’s how it goes sometimes.”
With the next race just seven days away at Silverstone, Raikkonen was left hoping for a better result at the British Grand Prix: “Not an easy weekend but with the speed that we had I feel that we didn’t really get what we deserved but that’s racing. We go again next weekend and we try to do better.”
