Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFerrari

Ferrari expects Raikkonen to blame for poor start

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Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene suggests Kimi Raikkonen was at fault for his terrible start at the Italian Grand Prix.

Raikkonen dropped from second on the grid to the back of the field when his car went in to anti-stall off the line, with the Finn suggesting there was "a problem with the second clutch". However, Arrivabene says Ferrari's first impressions simply point to Raikkonen doing a poor job managing his getaway when the lights went out.

"If it’s a technical issue we will let you know, but at the moment it looked like he was struggling or messing a bit with the finger to follow the procedure," Arrivabene said. "But to make an accusation before I have data is wrong.

"What I can say to be positive is that yesterday he made a fantastic qualifying and today into the race, starting from that position, he was doing very good overtaking and we were happy.

"Of course, if you are asking what the ideal situation would be it was to see Kimi go and pass for first in the first corner and to have Vettel second or third. This would be ideal, but we have to be happy because we had a driver who was second, we are still second in the constructors’ championship. That’s fine."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.