Raikkonen angry at Ferrari over qualifying blunder

Kimi Raikkonen says a lack of information from Ferrari led to him dropping out in Q1 ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix.

The Finn backed off after completing a lap with 40 seconds of the first part of qualifying to go, having just gone ninth quickest on a drying track. However, a number of cars improved after Raikkonen crossed the line, and he was knocked out in 18th place.

Having angrily asked "how the f**k is that possible?" after being informed of dropping out, Raikkonen says Ferrari didn't inform him he wouldn't get another lap in at the end of the session.

"It was wrong," Raikkonen said. "I was doing the same thing that I was doing when I went out and I never got the information that it was not possible to do what was the original plan and obviously we missed the one lap completely.

"I was thinking that I was doing the normal thing and I was not told that the plan had changed suddenly. They sent me out too late, we missed one lap and it obviously cost a lot."

Asked what the information he received was, Raikkonen replied: "That we have three timed laps and obviously they noticed at some point we went out too late and it was not going to have three timed laps, but I was never told.

"I was doing a normal plan and obviously it made a big difference. I did as planned and as I was told, but as I said there was a mistake at some point when they sent us too late out and the plan changed at that point, but I was never told that."

And although he will gain a number of positions due to grid penalties, Raikkonen says his starting position leaves him open to trouble in the opening laps.

"Obviously it was not ideal. We should be much higher up and I’m sure we could have fought at the front, but we tried to do our best and obviously it’s not an ideal starting place.

"Yes, there are long straights but also there are very tricky corners to be in the middle of the pack, so we have much bigger chances to have that happening in the first few corners, so you try to stay clear of all the shit in the first lap and then I guess we should have speed, but you never know what will happen in the race. We will do our best and see where we end up."