Raikkonen: P2 "not exactly what I wanted"

Kimi Raikkonen has expressed his disappointment at missing out on pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix to Ferrari team mate Sebastian Vettel.

Raikkonen only has one pole position since his return to Formula One in 2012, at last year’s Monaco GP, and was on provisional pole after the first runs earlier in Shanghai.

However, the Finn lost time in the final sector on his final lap, which allowed Vettel to snatch pole by less than a tenth.

Raikkonen was not happy with this performance, and said: “It was OK, but not good enough. It’s not exactly what I wanted.”

Raikkonen will be hoping to get the better of Vettel tomorrow, both to keep himself in the championship fight and to stop Ferrari from favouring Vettel for a title push, effectively making the 2007 World Champion even more of a number two driver.

“We’ll go again tomorrow and see what we can do,” he said. “We’ll try to improve. It’s going to be a long race. We’ll try to stay out of any issues and then see how it goes.”

Raikkonen has not stepped on the Shanghai podium since his return to Ferrari, however he did finish second with Lotus in 2013.