Räikkönen aims for podium despite penalty

Kimi Räikkönen showed a solid pace during practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix where he was expected after his victory last weekend in Melbourne. The Finn also seemed able to aim for the top places in qualifying before the rain changed things. The 2007 world champion managed to set the seventh fastest time but will only start from tenth place between Sergio Pérez and Romain Grosjean after receiving a penalty for slowing down Nico Rosberg during the qualifying session. “It’s a shame to lose three places, but that’s how it is.”, simply comments the Championship leader. “You never know what can happen in racing, especially here. We will do the best we can and I hope we will perform well enough to get on the podium. »

However, Kimi Räikkönen hopes the weather will remain dry for the Grand Prix after showing a lackluster performance when the track was wet. The Lotus driver was in fact classified three seconds behind the pole achieved by Sebastian Vettel. “The car was good in the dry, but the rain started to fall and that wasn't what we wanted. Apparently, we lacked grip on the intermediate tires and we were forced to use them for the final phase, which explains why we were not able to go faster. We expected better today, but it is what it is,” added the Finn. ?We are experiencing similar problems to those of last year on a wet track and this is due to the use of the tires. The team is working to find the solution, but at the moment we don't have it and we are not performing as well in the wet as in the dry. We will see how the weather evolves and we will act accordingly. If the conditions are mixed, you will have to make sure you make the right decisions at the right time, but it will be the same for everyone. »