- Belgian GP - Race
Raikkonen: Clean race what I needed
Kimi Raikkonen thinks fourth place at the Belgian Grand Prix is proof of what he could have achieved with Ferrari this year if he had more clean races in 2014.
Fourth in Belgium was not only Raikkonen's best result of his frustrating season but also the first time he has beaten Alonso in 12 races. In recent races Raikkonen has felt more comfortable with his car and said his issue-free race meant he was able to put this to good use.
"The race was clean, there weren't any issues in the race like in the past, we always had something happen and this was probably the first race this year [we didn't]," Raikkonen said. "Obviously it helps and meant we could do our own race and the result was a bit better, but it was still disappointing not to fight further up but we knew this race and the next race will be difficult for us.
"I think it's the first race this year that was clean, where we don't have damage in the car or any other issues and we can do our own race. The speed wasn't too bad but this is still not good enough. I don't think we deserve any better. If we deserve it we get it. Today we didn't get it and they were a bit too fast for us."
At one stage a podium looked like a possibility but Raikkonen does not believe he had any chance against the superior power of Valtteri Bottas' Williams, which passed him in the final laps.
"It was not much of a fight really, I mean in a straight line they are much faster. On one lap he almost caught me and I could keep him behind but the next lap there was no chance. For me it doesn't count as a fight. This is what happens [when you are slower].
"I think we ran the proper downforce we should have to do our maximum speed over the lap and in qualifying conditions, over one lap, it isn't too bad. But over the race we are suffering more against those cars, they can charge more and have a bigger advantage than over one lap. We don't have the horsepower in the engine they have but what they can recover compared to us is probably the bigger problem right now."
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