Raikkonen blames mis-communication for Q1 exit

2015 Austrian Grand Prix

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Kimi Raikkonen said his elimination in the first stage of qualifying in Austria was down to being him joining the track too late and not getting the information he needed from the Ferrari pit wall.

Raikkonen ended the first part of qualifying in 18th place, though he will moved up the grid ahead of the start of the race as other drivers take penalties.

“It has been a very bad Saturday,” rued Raikkonen.

“When I went out for my last run in Q1, the team informed me that I could do three timed laps, but then the plan was changed and I did not get the information. Therefore we missed one lap completely and I was knocked out.”

“The point is that I was sent out too late and that cost us a lot,” he added.

Raikkonen said he had been having “a pretty good weekend” until qualifying, and is concerned with staying out of trouble when he starts tomorrow’s race in the thick of the midfield.

“We should have the speed we need, but you never know what happens in the race,” he said. “In the first lap it will be better to stay away of problems because there is a much bigger chance of something happening in the first few corners.”

“There is a long straight, but also two corners which can be tricky if you happen to be in the middle of the pack. Then we’ll try to maximise our result.”

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    37 comments on “Raikkonen blames mis-communication for Q1 exit”

    1. Kimi is really luckless this season! as we say in argentina “he ought a circus and all the midgets grow tall!”

      1. To be honest with you, I don’t really think that his form this year or the last is due to his luck or the car for most of the time. He is becoming really difficult to work with ever since he came from WRC. Kimi in his McLaren and Ferrari stint until 2008 was was not like this before. Somehow I miss the old kimi.

        1. Before he had a ‘I don’t care’ attitude, now he just seems angry.

        2. maybe you’re right, but when he came back from WRC he did some really good races with Lotus. I think he relays too much in his undeniable talent, a la James Hunt, but now he’s sorrounded with super professional and extreme athletes, so, when talent matters, he can be on front, but in all of the other 19 races of the season, it isn’t enough.

    2. If this had happened with Vettel, he just would find the lap at the last moment and no one would say he is unlucky.

      Raikkonen lost it. Time to go home.

    3. I was a fan in his Ferrari stint, then glad he was rehired because it felt like they appologised for dumping him although he was their last champ… but I think his days are over! He’s not fast anymore, he’s inconsistent, unlucky etc etc. I know the car is not the best, the team makes mistakes from time to time… but he’s not “on it” anymore at all! If things continue like this for the remainder of the season, he should retire at the end of the season. He’s kinda wasting a good seat in F1 in my opinion as long as there’re some drivers (Hulk, Bottas, Nasr etc) who deserve a chance in what it seems to be the 2nd best car in F1.

    4. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      20th June 2015, 17:58

      This reminds me of Vettel last year at Red Bull where they just couldn’t get things to work together. It also reminds me of Lewis with Whitmarsh at McLaren.

      It seems once this situation exists, the driver has to leave. The team is not going to leave so the only answer is for the driver to leave.

      1. Yeah, but these two delivered all the time.
        Even if beaten badly by Ricciardo last year, Vettel did a way better job than Kimi is doing now.

        1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          20th June 2015, 21:52

          Yeah, I think Raikonnen is out of the door – he just needs to make sure he leaves by beating Vettel especiallly the last 3-4 races. Otherwise, the last 2 years are going to be a huge smudge on his F1 career.

      2. @freelittlebirds

        It also reminds me of Lewis with Whitmarsh at McLaren.

        Whitmarsh played a major role in Hamilton’s pre-McLaren career, in bringing him into the team and in winning the title with him in 2008. He did not suddenly fall out of the sky when Dennis stepped down in 2009.

        1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          20th June 2015, 23:53

          @keithcollantine Yeah, my point was not about Whitmarsh as much as McLaren under Whitmarsh. For some reason the dynamic was bad for both McLaren and Lewis. Ditto for Vettel and Red Bull last year. It’s inconceivable that Vettel would be playing second fiddle to Ricciardo at Red Bull after winning 8 championships together but we saw how critical Horner was of Renault during P2 with the interview from Bill Buxton so it’s no surprise.

          1. @freelittlebirds

            Will Buxton, n’est ce pas?

        2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          20th June 2015, 23:56

          Essentially it’s obvious that Raikonnen can’t perform well at Ferrari – you can tell from the radio transmissions that he’s not himself. The relationship is going south – if Raikonnen can turn it around, I’ll be shocked and he’ll earn the Iceman namesake for life:-)

    5. He is actually no better or worse than when they decided to dump him. That Lotus must have been a dynamite to convince Ferrari to rehire him, just to discover that he is no better than he was in 2009, when they’ve decided he isn’t good enough for them.

    6. Go home, Kimi. It was great to see you, because you are a Champion and a great guy, but…goddbye please.

    7. I too believe that his days are numbered in F1 but at the same time I believe he’ll drive all the way to podium tomorrow :-)

      1. P6 at best

    8. How complicated is qualifying supposed to be here? Get in the car, drive as fast as you can, that’s it.

      Drivers waiting for engineers to tell them what they’re supposed to do. It’s supposed to be racing, not championship manager.

    9. Well, at least one seat at the top is going to be fought for in silly season this year.

    10. Well, if it really was as he says it was, that could be an excuse. But I think he is just him saving face. The Lotus years have been fantastic, but his Ferrari return has disappointed sooo bad. Last year he had an excuse, with the car built around Alonso and all. I really believe Alonso’s only goal last year was to be better than Raikkonen to build himself up as the best driver so he can safely skip boat. But this year Kimi’s just embarrassing himself. And I say this as a Raikkonen fan. If I was Arrivabene I would not take him on.

    11. Kimi’s only mistake was made years ago when he decided to leave McLaren…

      1. That mistake got him the WDC. So not a bad move :)

        1. zing!

        2. How many would he have had if he’d stayed with McLaren?

          1. how many won McLaren since he left?

    12. I’m surprised at the level of Kimi bashing here, he’s gone well all weekend until whatever just happened… happened.

      Lets see how he goes in the race, I think he’s still on for top5.

      1. But what good is going well in practice if he can’t deliver it come qualifying and raceday? Of course we haven’t had the race yet so I will reserve judgement until we’ve seen how his race went, but he is making life a lot harder for himself with these underwhelming qualifying performances. 18th was a shock for all.

        1. It’s absolutely no good whatsoever.
          But lets see how the race goes, he’s already had some lightening starts this year. If I heard correctly grid penalties will bump him up to 14th on the grid, a few Renault engines and long straights should see him up the order quite quickly.

          1. Exactly, we still have to see how the race goes. I think he’ll pull a good recovery drive out of the bag, like Vettel 2 weeks ago.

    13. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ferrari sign Hulkenberg this weekend. Kimi doesn’t seem to have it this year and a change of teams seems inevitable.

    14. Let's go DUTCH
      20th June 2015, 22:59

      Wake-up call: RBR & TR in 2016 with Ferrari engines, Kimi OUT ( I Will miss HIM!) Max next to VTL

    15. Let's go DUTCH
      20th June 2015, 23:01

      GAME ON!

    16. Good bye Kimi. It was nice knowing you.

    17. I’m not glad to this.

    18. I want Kimi to have a great race today, to demonstrate that he’s still got it.

    Comments are closed.