Räikkönen convinced he has not become slow
Räikkönen reflected on his performances at the start of the 2014 season, and even though things are difficult, he believes he hasn't lost any of his brilliance or speed.
Kimi Räikkönen believes he is fast enough to fight for the top positions in Formula 1, despite the difficulties encountered this season upon his return to Scuderia Ferrari.
The Finnish driver returns to the Reds after two successful seasons with Lotus, but he has not yet been able to beat Fernando Alonso in 11 Grand Prix contested. The Spaniard has scored 88 more points than Räikkönen and has outqualified him 9 times out of 11, but the 2007 world champion insists, quoted by Autosport, that F1 hasn’t shaken his faith in his own ability: « It has been a difficult year but that’s life. It’s not fun when you have tough times, but it’s happened before and that’s how it goes. We try to improve things all the time, make fewer mistakes, and get the car I want to be fast again. I know I haven’t lost a few seconds of lap time over the winter. »
The former Lotus driver believes that minor issues are preventing him from delivering better results: « For me, it’s about putting things in the right order. Unfortunately, we haven’t succeeded in doing so thus far. Sometimes we have a day, a session on certain circuits where we are good, but we are still fighting and the results show where we end up. »
Räikkönen achieved his best race result of the year in Hungary, finishing in 6th place, but there’s still work to be done to aim higher: « If everything were easy, as it sometimes is, we would be laughing, but that’s not the case this year. I have confidence in the team, but obviously changes and improvements must be made, and all of this can only happen if we work as a team. »
