Kimi Raikkonen claims Bahrain win was beyond reach - Formula 1 news
Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen feels that it was impossible for him to challenge Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel for victory in the Bahrain GP on Sunday, April 21, 2013.
The 2007 World Champion struggled during the qualifiers, as he was able to post the ninth fastest lap overall, which was not what his team expected before heading to the Sakhir track.
However, Lotus were good on tyre management once again, just as they had been last year, which gave Raikkonen a chance to go for a two-stop strategy. There was some risk involved in it too,
but the team went for it in the end.
Luckily, everything went well for the iceman, as he finished second on the podium ahead of his team-mate Romain Grosjean, who produced the best result of the season until now.
Despite stopping one time less than the reigning world champion, Raikkonen was unable to score the maximum points. However, he was not disappointed with the result and claimed that second
was the highest position he could achieve in the race.
According to the veteran driver, “I think overall we did not have the speed to beat Red Bull this weekend. Yesterday we could have been a few places higher but we could not have challenged
their speed at the front. So it was a good result. Today we got good points and didn't lose too many to Seb.”
He went onto reveal that the team had decided a two-stop strategy right after the Friday practice sessions. However, he said that things were not easy and he did struggle in the starting
moments of the race.
The Finn added, “I didn't have a great start or first or second lap. But after that, the car started to come to me and I could start pushing more and more.”
With the help of this victory, Raikkonen has managed to stay close to the championship leader Vettel. However, the latter has extended the lead from three to 10 points now and will be hoping
to score some more victories in the upcoming events to pressurise his rivals.
The next round of the 2013 championship will be held in Spain in the second week of May.
Tags: