Kimi Raikkonen blames cloudy weather at the United States Grand Prix – Formula 1 news
Lotus F1’s Kimi Raikkonen has blamed cloudy weather as he was overtaken by McLaren’s Jenson Button at the United States Grand Prix this Sunday.
“I got a bad start and then I touched with a Force India at the second corner so I lost a few more places. After that the car was okay and I could get past some of the others,” Raikkonen said. “Unfortunately, when it got cloudy it got too cold so the tyres
stopped working and that's where we saw Jenson [Button] get past. Basically, it was a race where we were just depending on the tyres to be in their window. I'm still 3rd in the championship and we'll do everything we can to maintain this position until the
end.”
Raikkonen had originally qualified for the fifth position on Saturday. However, his teammate Romain Grosjean was given a five place penalty for a gear box change that promoted all the following drivers one place ahead. Raikkonen was pushed up to fourth but
that became a disadvantage since the even grid slots were on the dirty side of the track which hindered his start.
The driver finished the race in sixth place since Button overtook him for the fifth place.
The technical director for Lotus F1, James Allison, said that the driver could have stayed ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso if it had not been for a slow pit stop. He appreciated him for skilfully making his way up the track despite a rough start. They
had some problem with the tyres while changing them at the pit that left Raikkonen behind in the sixth.
Besides that, Allison thinks that the car’s pace has improved and they expect to secure another podium finish in the last race of the season provided they have a problem free race in Brazil next weekend.
America witnessed an exciting return of the United States GP which McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton won. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was in second while rival Alonso finished third. The drivers’ championship remains open and the Brazilian GP will be the ultimate
conclusion to this long season.
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