• Japanese Grand Prix

Raikkonen bemoans poor start

ESPN Staff
October 13, 2013 « First points the result of hard work - Gutierrez | Ferrari will let Massa's team-order snub slide »
Kimi Raikkonen spent a lot of his race fighting with other drivers © Getty Images
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Kimi Raikkonen said a poor start in the Japanese Grand Prix limited him to fifth place in the race.

Starting from ninth place, Raikkonen dropped back to 11th at the start of the race as both Esteban Gutierrez and Sergio Perez making progress. Raikkonen said that being stuck in traffic hurt his pace but once he found more clear air later on he was able to close in on the cars ahead and eventually pass Nico Hulkenberg on the penultimate lap.

"I got a really poor start off the line - just wheelspin - and I lost some places," Raikkonen said. "So that wasn't the ideal start but I could gain some places back later in the race when the car was working well after the last pit stop. Before that it was quite a loose, nervous car but obviously I was in traffic all the time so that's how it ended up today."

Raikkonen said his poor start was accentuated by a difficulty to pass at Suzuka,

"It was a pretty normal race I would say. Obviously here it's pretty difficult to overtake so not thhe ideal situation but we got some points."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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