- US GP - Race
Three-stop was unavoidable - Raikkonen
Kimi Raikkonen said he could not help but go onto a three-stop strategy at the US Grand Prix after struggling with front tyre issues throughout the race.
Raikkonen finished a distant 13th, one lap down on the leaders, after making a late pit stop for fresh tyres. He said no matter what he did the tyres degraded and left him without a choice but to pit three times.
"We were just ruining the front tyre really. The first set wasn't too bad but when I put on the harder set it was very difficult overall and I could not get very good grip. I tried to save the tyres in any way possible, slowing in some parts of the track and turning into the corners, but even so I had to take on a set of softs earlier than expected, which meant I had to make a third stop in the closing stages.
"It's a bad race, I don't know if it's the worst or not. It makes no difference if we finish wherever we finish, it's pretty disappointing. Not being able to solve certain issues is a bit frustrating, but hopefully something comes up and we find what the issue is.
Asked if being hit by Sergio Perez on the first lap damaged his chances, he said: "I haven't seen the car or any damage, but it was quite a hit.
"I don't really know what happened. I just felt a hit and then obviously I saw some cars there. I knew from the formation laps and the laps to the grid that it was very slippery there because of the wind and I just went not so fast quite tightly on the inside and suddenly felt a hit. I had no idea what really happened other than somebody hit me."
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