Race report
Formula 1 Austrian GP
Raikkonen: Qualifying could've been "an awful lot worse"
Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen believes he "made the most" of Austrian GP qualifying by placing third on the grid, despite his deficit to teammate Sebastian Vettel.
Valentin Khorounzhiy
Edited: Jul 8, 2017, 5:23 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
In a Q3 shoot-out where the leading drivers were all denied an opportunity to improve their initial times by late yellow flags, Raikkonen came up 0.486s short of Vettel around the Red Bull Ring.
He was also beaten by the Mercedes cars of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton, but will start right behind the Bottas/Vettel front row due to Hamilton's five-place grid penalty.
Raikkonen suggested the result was good damage limitation after he struggled through Friday practice, placing sixth in FP1 and FP2.
"Considering how difficult or bad - whichever way you want to look at it - the weekend has been, we're going to start third place tomorrow so that's at least something good," Raikkonen said.
"It could have been an awful lot worse. The car should be OK for the race. It's not been very easy so far but I think we're in a decent place to start tomorrow."
The Finn added that his situation improved dramatically between Friday and Saturday, but that he was still hampered by having "wasted a whole day".
He said: "We know what was going on [on Friday], but we don't have to talk about it.
"It got better this morning [in FP3] and then it's a matter of figuring out the balance and the set-up and obviously we were a step behind but we made the most out of it today."
Despite being satisfied with the outcome, Raikkonen described his qualifying as "messy".
Aside from the yellow flags for Haas driver Romain Grosjean in Q3, the Finn also felt he was impeded by Renault's Jolyon Palmer in Q1, which led to him switching from supersofts to ultrasofts for an unplanned second run.
Describing the Palmer incident, Raikkonen said: "It was the second lap, the lap was OK, I was in the last corner, he slowed down, I had to slow down a lot and I had to use another set of tyres, which wasn't planned. That wasn't ideal.
"The next one, Q2 was OK. Obviously we had to change the plan a bit. Then in Q3, it was not too bad.
"There were some cars in the last sector [during the first push lap], the last three corners, which didn't help. Then the second lap, there were yellow flags and I couldn't do anything."
He added: "The car was good but it was a bit messy, qualifying, but I'm happy to start third and i think the car is fine."
Additional reporting by Lawrence Barretto
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article No point in backing up Vettel, say Mercedes drivers
Next article Liberty should buy Silverstone to secure future, says Brown
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Valentin Khorounzhiy
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
WTCR
WTCR
Hungaroring
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
General
General
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
More from
Kimi Raikkonen
David Coulthard explains why Robin Raikkonen's rise resembles Max Verstappen's
Formula 1
Formula 1
Spanish GP
David Coulthard explains why Robin Raikkonen's rise resembles Max Verstappen's
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Formula 1
Formula 1
Italian GP
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Red Bull signs Kimi Raikkonen’s son as junior driver
Formula 1
Formula 1
Italian GP
Red Bull signs Kimi Raikkonen’s son as junior driver
More from
Ferrari
Ferrari explains tyre pressure mistake in Monza WEC
WEC
WEC
Monza
3 h
Ferrari explains tyre pressure mistake in Monza WEC
Robert Kubica announces exit from AF Corse’s privateer Hypercar in WEC
WEC
WEC
Monza
22 h
Robert Kubica announces exit from AF Corse’s privateer Hypercar in WEC
Latest news
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
2 h
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
3 h
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 3 h
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
3 h
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe