Kimi upbeat despite qualy woes

Editor 20 Sep 2014 8:15 PM

Kimi Raikkonen is confident he will be able to pick up a good haul of points in Singapore on Sunday despite a software problem in qualifying.

The Finn was right up there in terms of pace during Q1 and Q2, but he ran into problems at the start of the final qualifying stint and could only manage the seventh fastest time with the team telling him to park the car.

Ferrari chassis director Pat Fry confirmed afterwards that a software issue was to blame for Raikkonen’s woes.

“Kimi was comfortable with the car all weekend and we are sorry that he had a software problem on his final Q3 run, because he could definitely have got a better result,” he said.

“This incident confirms just how important is reliability, especially at this point in the season.”

Raikkonen, who has had several problems so far this campaign, is optimistic about his chances come race day though.

“I’m very happy with the handling of my car. Yesterday, we made some changes to the set-up and in qualifying, I finally managed to drive the way I wanted.

“Unfortunately, in Q3, on my final run on new Supersoft tyres, a problem forced me to pit. It’s a real shame as I felt comfortable in the car and we had the potential to get a good result. Now I want to feel confident for the race and I hope the team manages to solve the problem without too much difficulty. Tomorrow, we will do our best to bring home as many points as possible, aware that we are going in the right direction.”