Räikkönen in complete helplessness in Austin

In line with his season, the United States Grand Prix for Kimi Räikkönen was very difficult. The Finn, who finished 14th out of 15 finishers, one lap behind the leaders, was very frustrated after the race.

He stated to Autosport that he couldn’t overcome the understeer issues with his Ferrari: « Here, it was another extremely difficult weekend. In Japan, it was the same: we struggled with understeer all weekend and whatever we did, we couldn’t get rid of it. So you can expect to destroy the front tires during the race. »

« Obviously, I hate the situation as it is and the way things are going, and I can’t resolve it by myself, » he admitted.

« Trying to drive slowly in certain places makes no difference, so I really don’t understand. No matter where we finish, it’s very disappointing. Not being able to solve certain problems is frustrating. Hopefully, something happens and we will find out what the issues are. I appreciate having help and obviously, we are trying to help each other solve these problems, but if we knew the issues they would be easier to resolve. »

He claims that his teammate is not as bothered as he is by the front problems of the Ferrari F14-T: « In certain places, yes, it’s the same problem, but I think he’s not too concerned about the sliding front. So the effect is not that significant. It’s a slightly different story. »

Fernando Alonso’s race, moreover, even though he finished sixth, half a second ahead of Sebastian Vettel, was not easy, especially at the end of the GP: « I had very strong vibrations with the tires in the last two laps. I could no longer see the track, basically. I tried to control the pace. I asked about the gap with the drivers behind to cross the line just ahead of them. But then Vettel overtook Magnussen and there was no more time to lose, so the last lap I was flat out with big vibrations. »