As Formula One teams plan updates and enhancements to their chassis beginning with this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, Ferrari’s chassis technical director James Allison is confident Kimi Raikkonen will be able to maximize his talent and ability level in the team’s Ferrari F14 T chassis soon.
“Kimi is working extremely well with this team, collaborating extremely well with his engineers, with the other car, and helping us drive this car forwards; helping to show us where it is weak and helping us to make it stronger,” Allison said, via the official Formula One website.
“He has class written all over him, and we know that within a very short space of time we will also be seeing the results on the track.”
Through four Grands Prix, Fernando Alonso has thus far taken the early team advantage on his teammate, and did well to score the team’s first podium finish of the year three weeks ago in China.
Raikkonen’s slow start, meanwhile, has gotten a fair bit of attention, but he insisted his motivation isn’t lacking.
The team has also gone through its high-profile management shakeup with the departure of Stefano Domenicali after Bahrain, with Ferrari North America’s Marco Mattiacci coming in to replace him as team principal.
Allison confirmed it’s been the car, not the drivers, that have left Ferrari on the back foot thus far.
“We are very fortunate to have two good drivers with impeccable pedigree. Until we deliver both our drivers a car they can really put to work on a track, we are just fortunate to have these guys helping us drive the program forward,” Allison admitted.