Q&A with Kimi Räikkönen - We probably expected a bit more

Kimi has looked pretty handy all weekend at the wheel of his E20, with setup tweaks helping the Finn push even harder to reach the ultimate pace. Qualifying this afternoon may not have been perfect, but the Iceman certainly ain’t done yet…

Kimi, P5 on the grid for tomorrow’s race; are you satisfied with that?

Not a bad qualifying performance for sure but we probably expected a bit more. The car has been good all weekend but I made a small mistake on my best lap in the last part of qualifying. It’s a bit disappointing I couldn’t get the crucial lap together at the right time, but it is what it is.

Overtaking has proven to be quite tricky here in the past; does being on the third row put you at more of a disadvantage in that respect?

We’d rather be a bit higher up of course but we’re in a much better position than we have been many times this year and we’ve still managed to get good results, so it’s not a bad place to start. The layout of the track makes life a little bit more difficult but it doesn’t mean we can’t be competitive.

You’ve looked competitive all weekend; what are your thoughts looking ahead to the race tomorrow?

We don’t know what the others have been doing in practice, but our car looks pretty good on higher fuel loads and that’s a good sign. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be right up there. We’re starting on the clean side of the track too; this year it doesn’t look like it’ll make such a big difference as it has done in the past but it always gives you a small advantage. If we can get a good start we definitely have a chance to get a strong result.

Source: www.lotusf1team.com