Kimi Raikkonen labelled Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as ‘boring’, after spending the majority of the race fuel saving his way to finishing in fourth place.
The Finn started in fifth but gained a position when the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo retired. He came under pressure from Max Verstappen in the latter stages, but held on to secure fourth.
“My race was boring – I was fuel saving for most of the time,” admitted Raikkonen.
“In my view, this has nothing to do with racing, but rules are rules.
“There’s nothing you can do, you keep lifting halfway through the straights, 200 meters before the braking point and the guy behind has to do the same.
It’s painful, not able to push your car when you have the potential to do it. It looks close, but it’s not a fight.
“I held Verstappen behind me and at the same time, I was saving enough fuel to be legal.
“In some race tracks you have to do it more than in others and it’s not very exciting.”
Raikkonen’s Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel said he also had a ‘lonely’ race on his way to third place behind the dominant Mercedes duo.
“I was pretty lonely for most of the race, trying to save a bit of fuel in the first part of the final stint,” said Vettel.
“It was not very exciting, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”
Vettel identified Ferrari’s power deficit as one of the key areas for the team to work on heading into 2018.
“This year we improved massively on the car; the chassis has been really strong since the first day,” he added.
“We made some major steps on the engine, but we still need to find some more power compared to our competitors.
“However, the most important thing is to focus on where we want to be as a team.”
