Raikkonen: 'Ferrari has come a long way in a year'

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Despite its disastrous Asian spell which terminated Ferrari's title hopes, Kimi Raikkonen hails his team for the progress it has achieved in the past twelve months.

The Scuderia undoubtedly gave Mercedes a run for its money in the first part of the season, with Sebastian Vettel winning four races and leading the drivers' championship.

It all fell apart after the European season however, but Raikkonen is looking at the glass as half full, underlining the Italian outfit's unquestionable progress this year.

"Obviously I want to be fighting at the front every weekend and to be able to fight for the championship next year," Raikkonen said.

"We started this year pretty badly, we were not where we should have been, personally, on my side, I was not very happy with the set-up and it took quite a long time to figure it out. Since then it has been better, but we’ve also had too many DNF for different reasons.

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"As a team we’ve come a long way from year to year, even from last year we’ve done a good step to get where we want. What we want is for Ferrari to win both championships, but I think we have the right tools to do it.

"This year we need tidy up things and not make mistakes and then we should be OK. It’s the small things, here and there, that have played a big part
this year.

"In the end we have a great car, great tools, now there are two races to go and we’ll try to make the most out of them, doing the same work we’ve been doing in the last few races and then, next year, we start from zero next year and we move forward."

The 2007 world champion insisted Ferrari will carry into 2018 all he learned from its mistakes this year.

"We have to learn from some of the things that didn’t work this year and we’re working to make things better next year. We start from zero next year but it depends on so many things over the winter.

"In testing we’ll get an idea of where we are and then in the first races we’ll see. We obviously aim to do better, because as a team we want to fight for the championship.

"It was better this year, but it can always be better."

Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.