Räikkönen surprised by his team's lack of information

Kimi Räikkönen seemed faster than his teammate Sebastian Vettel at the Australian GP, ​​but the 2007 world champion ultimately had to settle for the last step of the podium in Melbourne.

Started on the front row alongside the pole sitter Lewis Hamilton, Iceman attempted an “undercut” by anticipating his stop to destabilize the leader. This strategy indirectly offered victory to the German who took advantage of Virtual Safety Car implemented following the double abandonment of the Haas de Romain Grosjean et Kevin Magnussen to take control of the race.

Kimi Räikkönen did not publicly display his frustration, even if he remained very stoic as usual on the podium. The Finn, however, questions the lack of information from his team.

“It didn’t really surprise me. On the other hand, I was surprised that they did not inform me of what he was doing, given that we talk about exactly this kind of thing on the radio, explained the pilot Ferrari. We discuss it before the race, thinking about the hundreds of possible options. It was his best strategy because he was not threatened and he had nothing to lose. It worked well for him. His decision did not surprise me, but not being kept informed surprised me. »

“We haven’t been the luckiest, but what can we do? Fortunately, Seb was able to take advantage of it and so did our team. I rode well throughout the race, but it's hard to overtake here. I had an attempt at the second corner against Lewis (Hamilton) but I didn't manage to take the advantage. I then just tried to follow him and try something during my stop, but it didn't work. regretted the Finn.

Kimi Räikkönen was also put under pressure by Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) in the last laps.

“The Red Bull had fresher tires, but we managed to keep it behind. Third place remains a good result for the start of the season. I’m satisfied with my car and that’s a good thing for the future.”, underlined the former world champion.

Discover the analysis of the Australian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2158 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.