Raikkonen: French GP will be "challenging"

Kimi Raikkonen insists he is set for a challenging Grand Prix after qualifying lowest out of the top three teams. He starts the race in 6th, three places behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel. 

Ten years ago, the Finn qualified on pole for the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours. This time around he becomes the only driver not to have improved on his Q2 time. 

“My car was working well today and it was a pretty straightforward qualifying until my last run,” says Kimi. “I was not able to put a timed lap together in the whole of Q3

“The first run was pretty decent, but then I went a bit sideways in turn 11, and lost time. After that, I was not able to improve my lap time.”

His Ferrari engineers have a plan for Kimi to finish higher up on the grid, but without historical data, they’re not sure if the plan will work. 

“For tomorrow [Sunday] we chose the strategy that we think is the best for us, but we have to wait and see. In other races, we have seen people starting with different tires, and it did not change things from night to day. 

“For sure tomorrow [Sunday] will be a challenging day”.

Raikkonen hasn’t finished on the podium since his second place in Baku. He has slipped to 5th in the drivers' championship. Interview on the chequered flag.co.uk