“We had the Speed Today to be on Pole” – Raikkonen

Published 07/28/2018, 2:45 PM EDT

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via Imago

According to Kimi Raikkonen, he missed out on pole position due to excessive traffic. He could have “comfortably” been on pole for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The pace of the Ferrari in wet conditions surprised him.

Raikkonen grabbed provisional pole for the time being until the final round of flying laps. But then, the Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas relegated him to third.

Kimi claimed that his lap time compromised while trying to chase a Haas. He also said that he was unlucky as he put on new tyres and there wasn’t much grip. But once he reached the Haas the spray severely hampered visibility.

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He said, “There was definitely the chance in these conditions today to be comfortably on pole but it didn’t happen.”

The Finn could not slow down much more to create ample space between himself and the car ahead. This was likely because he was concerned about running out of time to start a flying lap.

via Imago

He was all praises for Ferrari’s decision-making in a chaotic session. Overall he was satisfied with the performance inspite of the unfortunate positioning at the end.

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Raikkonen said that his lap time on used tyres was pretty decent. According to him, there were areas where he could improve. When they pitted, the track dried up a bit and there was a lot more grip.

Meanwhile, teammate Sebastian Vettel was the odds-on favourite for pole. He topped 2 of the 3 dry practice sessions. Raikkonen was less competitive than the German 4-time champion.

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However, when the rain arrived for qualifying, Raikkonen was able to catch up to Vettel. Even the Finn was surprised that he was quicker in the rain.

“We had the speed today [to be on pole] and I was pleasantly surprised how nice the car was on wets,” said Raikkonen. “It definitely hasn’t been our strongest point, so that was great.”

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Written by:

Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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