• Monaco Grand Prix - Qualifying

Raikkonen bemoans tyre struggle, admits to mistake

Kimi Raikkonen struggled to get his tyres up to temperature in qualifying © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• Race:
• Monaco Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Kimi Räikkönen

• Teams:
• Lotus F1

Kimi Raikkonen said he struggled to get his tyres working during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, but revealed he could been higher up the grid had it not been for a mistake on his final lap.

Raikkonen qualified eighth after struggling to get through Q1 and Q2, using all three sets of his super-soft tyres in the process. Raikkonen, who missed out on valuable set-up time in first practice to have his steering system changed, said getting heat into the tyres for a flying lap was proving problematic and that a mistake knocked the edge off his best lap time in Q3.

"Since we didn't run in the first session we've been a bit behind over the whole weekend. The car doesn't feel too bad but then the biggest problem is to try to get the tyres working and sometimes they felt they worked and sometimes not. They're not the easiest."

"I think in the race it'll be fine because you have more laps and it should be fine. It's just on the one lap. I was a bit faster on the last lap but I locked a wheel into the second part of the swimming pool so I should have been a few places higher.

"For sure I expected to be fourth or fifth, but I lost a lot of time and we only did a few laps in the dry on Thursday so we were a bit behind."

Raikkonen admitted it would be difficult to move through the field unless something unusual happens on Sunday.

"If it's a normal race yes it's difficult, but in Monaco anything can happen, like a big crash. If you're lucky and you avoid it and it's not your fault then anything can happen here. If it's just a normal race then it's very difficult, yes."

Asked about the possibility of one-stopping, Raikkonen added: "I think that people will do pretty similar things. It's not going to change the world if you don't have any new [super-soft] tyres, it's not like some circuits where they drop off quickly."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.