Raikkonen frustrated by Monaco traffic

Kimi Raikkonen was frustrated by being held up in traffic at the Monaco Grand Prix, which he believes cost him the race win. The Finn lost second place to Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya at the first corner but regained it later in the race. However, ...

Kimi Raikkonen was frustrated by being held up in traffic at the Monaco Grand Prix, which he believes cost him the race win. The Finn lost second place to Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya at the first corner but regained it later in the race. However, he just couldn't get close enough to Montoya to challenge for the lead.

Kimi Raikkonen.

Photo by Brousseau Photo.

"For sure my result could have been much better, but second was the best I could do in the circumstances," Raikkonen told the McLaren website. "Every time I was able to stay out longer on the track than Montoya I was stuck behind traffic and it cost me the race win. I know this is easy to say afterwards but I think that was the case."

"Of course it was frustrating because you know you have given your best, but if you have three or four cars in front of you, you can easily lose three or four seconds per lap. If I had any chance to overtake during the last couple of laps I would have tried, but it was not possible and it was better to take second place."

Raikkonen may have wished for better than second place but at least the result kept him in the lead of the Driver's championship and put McLaren back ahead in the Contructors' standings. "It is a bonus that we gained some points against Ferrari and we have to be happy with that," he admitted. "We also reclaimed our lead in the Constructors' Championship which is positive."