Kimi: I was told ‘no, you are fine’

Editor 26 Jul 2014 4:23 PM

Kimi Raikkonen was philosophical about his exit in Q1 at Hungary, but admits Ferrari cannot afford to make silly mistakes.

The 2007 World Champion will start the Hungarian GP 17th on the grid after a nightmare session saw him fail to make it into Q2. Having set a reasonable time during his first stint on the medium compounds, the team opted not to run him on the soft tyres.

Unfortunately for him Jules Bianchi in the Marussia produced a final lap on the softer compounds and knocked him into P17. Raikkonen couldn’t do anything as he was sitting in the garage.

The Finn says he asked the team several times about the strategy not to give him another go, but he was told he was safe.

“The plan was to go out, but the team said ‘no, you are fine, you do not need to go out’,” he is quoted as saying by Press Association Sport.

“I questioned it a few times, but they said no need, and we can see the end result.

“What happened is not good for me or the team, and although it has been a difficult year I don’t see the point to shout. The mistake is done.

“I’ve made mistakes in the past, I will make them in the future, and people do make mistakes, but there are things we have to change to improve.

“As a team in Formula One, as Ferrari, we should not be doing these kind of things. None of us are in our first year.”

Although he still has faith in the team, Raikkonen admits Ferrari have to get rid of the “weaknesses in the system”.

“I trust in the team, believe in the people,” he added.

“I questioned it, but I cannot always go against advice. We are here as a team, make decisions as a team, and today the outcome was this.

“Obviously we have to improve, to do things differently because we can see there are weaknesses in the system.”