Raikkonen dismisses critics of 2017 performance

Kimi Raikkonen has said he doesn't care what people think about the way he had been driving this season.

"My driving has not been too bad in my view," Raikkonen said ahead of the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

"What other people think, I don't care," he insisted. "I know what I can do. Some days are easier than others for many reasons.

Raikkonen has already been signed up to stay at Ferrari for another season in 2018. That's despite lagging far behind his team mate Sebastian Vettel in the points.

Currently Vettel has 247 points in the drivers championship, compared with Raikkonen's 148 points. While Vettel has four wins this season, Raikkonen's best finishes were second place in Monaco and Hungary.

"If you look purely at the points, I'm far from where I want to be," he admitted. "But that's a combination of many things.

• Repeat failure at Ferrari 'completely unacceptable', says Symonds

"It's been a far from ideal year but that's how it goes," he added. "We try to finish it well and then turn the page, start from zero and go from there."

Raikkonen did concede that there was always room for improvement, and that this year was no different.

"As a team, we always want to improve and that's every day," he agreed. "It doesn't matter which team you go to - there isn't a single team that isn't interested in improving things.

"Even if you win and get a one-two, there are always things you can improve," he said. "It's a never-ending story, especially in this sport, but in many sports.

"We try to do our best all the time," he added.

Raikkonen certainly seems happy at Ferrari and fully supported at Maranello.

"When it comes down to the team and the people I work most closely with, I'm very happy," he said.

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter