• Singapore Grand Prix - Qualifying

Raikkonen planning to race despite back problems

ESPN Staff
September 21, 2013 « Nerve-wracked Vettel relieved to take pole | Rosberg sure he could have embarrassed Vettel »
Kimi Raikkonen had pain killer injections to take part in qualifying © Sutton Images
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Kimi Raikkonen expects to race in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix despite a bad back slowing him down in qualifying.

Raikkonen completed limited running in the third practice session and had pain-killing injections ahead of qualifying in an attempt to allow him to take part. He struggled to 13th on the grid as a result but says he plans to race on Sunday evening.

"I think I'll be fine," he said. "It's not the first time and I don't think it will be the last time."

Asked how much it had harmed his chances in qualifying, Raikkonen said: "I think it's a combination really and this morning [in FP3] we couldn't really try so we didn't do what we were supposed to do. That's how it goes."

Team principal Eric Boullier said it had added to a stressful weekend for driver and team as Raikkonen revealed on Thursday that he is leaving at the end of the year over missing payments.

"With the injection from the pain killer he doesn't feel anything but I think we will have to monitor it during the night and see tomorrow," Boullier said. "It's not the best weekend so far and there are a lot of stories around. It's true that maybe the back pain is something on top of everything that didn't help."

Asked specifically about the missing payments, Boullier added: "The timing is not the right one and it's never good to go public with this kind of thing. We owe him money, that's true, but we had to give priority to our people first and manage our cashflow. There are no dramas, the budget is covered and guaranteed, it's just a cashflow issue. It's a little bit sad that we have to deal with it in the build up to a race."

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