Kimi Raikkonen made no secret of his frustration after finishing Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix in sixth place, believing that the root of his problems lay in Ferrari’s qualifying form so far this year.
Raikkonen qualified in sixth place in Monaco, but with overtaking coming at a premium around the tight and twisting streets, the Finn was unable to make up any positions in the first stint of the race.
Although he did pass Daniel Ricciardo for fifth position in the first round of pit stops, Raikkonen dropped back down to P6 at the end of the race after the Australian barged his way past at Mirabeau.
“We knew that after starting from sixth position it would have been a difficult race,” Raikkonen said. “I was all the time behind slower cars and there was no way to overtake them even if I had a much better pace.
“At the the pit stop we managed to pass one Red Bull, we gained one place but we lost it for a stupid reason. I was following my normal line when Ricciardo hit my rear tire and pushed me wide, regaining the position. It’s not very clear what you are allowed to do, it’s really odd but there’s nothing we can do.”
Raikkonen believes that an improved performance in qualifying will be key to improving his fortunes in 2015, given that he has beaten teammate Sebastian Vettel just once in the opening six rounds of the year.
“For the next races we have to make a better job overall to make sure we get tires working and things sorted out without mistakes on Saturday in qualifying,” Raikkonen said. “This will make our life a lot easier on Sunday.
“Now we go to Canada a bit happier overall but it’s too early to make predictions, we have similar tires but the layout of the track is completely different, so let’s wait and see.”