• Korean Grand Prix
Comments: 4

'We just don't have the speed' - Raikkonen

ESPN Staff
October 14, 2012 « Grosjean notes importance of clean start | Toro Rosso hails step forward »
Kimi Raikkonen passed Lewis Hamilton's McLaren but was no match for Red Bull and Ferrari in Korea © Sutton Images
Enlarge
Related Links

Kimi Raikkonen thinks Lotus is lacking the speed for him to mount a late comeback in the drivers' championship over the next four races.

Raikkonen finished fifth at the Korean Grand Prix but could not match the pace of the Red Bulls and Ferraris in the race. Lotus brought a new Coanda-effect exhaust system to its car this weekend, but Raikkonen said the E20 is still lacking the pace for him to close the 48-point gap in the remaining four races.

"We keep doing our best but we just don't have the speed," he said. "We'll keep trying and pushing but it doesn't look likely."

He said that fifth was the most Lotus could have hoped for in Korea.

"I think this was about where we should have been today," Raikkonen said. "The yellow flags at the start didn't help when we were fighting with Felipe [Massa] but even so we didn't quite have the speed to match the Red Bulls and Ferraris. We also lost quite a bit of time behind Lewis [Hamilton] - mainly because the new exhaust system means you lose a little bit of power so it was hard to get past - but with a few more practice sessions I'm sure we'll learn a lot more to be able to improve it. I was pretty much on my own at the end but we had to keep pushing to maintain position and it wasn't so easy."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
ESPN Staff Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices