• Indian Grand Prix
Comments: 10

Car was fast enough for a podium - Raikkonen

ESPN Staff
October 28, 2012 « Fuel saving prevents Massa fighting McLaren | Hulkenberg achieves Force India 'maximum' »
Kimi Raikonen: "When you are stuck behind and you can't get past, it's useless" © Sutton Images
Enlarge
Related Links

Kimi Raikkonen felt his car was strong enough to score a podium at the Indian Grand Prix, but said he couldn't find a way past Felipe Massa to exploit it.

Raikkonen finished seventh after spending his whole race tucked within a second of Massa's gearbox. His Lotus did not have the straight-line speed to pass the Ferrari on the straight and when he managed to find a way past following his pit stop he was immediately re-passed by Massa in the DRS zone.

"We really thought that the car, with its lap times, had the chance of a podium," Raikkonen said. "But when you are stuck behind and you can't get past, it's useless. But we made a mistake yesterday and we paid for it today in the race. Hopefully at the next race we can use the pace that we have and put ourselves in a good place to start the race."

Raikkonen is still third in the championship but said he was not entertaining any hope of making up the 67-point deficit to Sebastian Vettel.

"I think we knew already for quite a few races before that unless they made some big mistakes they had too much speed. I'm happy that the car is now a little bit stronger but we just have to put ourselves in the right place."

© 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