Räikkönen: “Without an excess of caution at the start, I could have won”

The Austrian Grand Prix was an event where you had to keep your cool. A task that "Iceman", the man of the cold, knows well, who gleaned second place despite a chaotic Sunday at the Red Bull ring.

Starting from third place on the grid, Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) was the author of a lightning flight. Much more responsive than both Mercedes in front of him, the Finn passed through a thin space in the middle of Valtteri Bottas et Lewis Hamilton towards the first braking.

However, the Scuderia driver then went astray. Pushed off the track by the reigning world champion, he sped away the next time he braked, locking his right front wheel. Still off the track, Kimi Räikkönen returned his position to Valtteri Bottas. Then, one round later, Max Verstappen overwhelmed him.

“I had to take my foot off at the first corner to avoid hitting the Mercedes, I was afraid of being hit at that moment. I went wide out of turn 3, it wasn't very good.", recognized the 2007 champion of F1.

From there, the wearer of number 7 took advantage of his experience and demobilized. Coming to the pits during the Virtual Safety Car (VSC), Kimi Räikkönen kept pressure on Max Verstappen (Red Bull) from a distance. Coming back to less than three seconds in the last minutes, he even had authorization to attack until the finish, despite the presence of his teammate Sebastian Vettel, better placed in the general classification, behind his back.

“I got closer to Verstappen, I attacked hard, but I don't think I could have overtaken him even with extra laps. » Proof of his aggressive driving, Kimi Räikkönen was the author of the best lap in the race, in the very last passage in 1'06''957.

However, where the race was played out was perhaps not in the finale, but rather the start of the event. “The car was really good, I only suffered in the first laps of the second stint, for the rest I had no problems. Without an excess of caution at the start, I could have won. »

“We took advantage of Mercedes' disastrous day and brought big points to the team in the Manufacturers' Championship. » Indeed, the Scuderia takes the lead ahead of Mercedes for 10 points.

Discover the full report and analysis of the Austrian Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in Spielberg, in issue 2172 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.