Raikkonen says unpredictability among front-runners is 'nice'

Kimi Raikkonen believes predicting the pecking order from race to race is a challenging exercise this season, and one which he says is "nice" for Formula 1.

While Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel prevailed in the first two races of the 2018 season, Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo threw a welcomed spanner in the works by winning in China last weekend.

Mercedes' inability to win so far this year means the German outfit has endured the worst start to its campaign since 2013.

Asked on his view of the pecking order, Raikkonen said it was "very hard to say", suggesting the unpredictability could be set to continue.

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"If you ask anybody, it's a bit tricky to give you an answer," he said.

"I think a lot of the end result [in China] depended on whether you had better tyres than others, when you could offset yourself to the others.

"Obviously, it's a big part of the game, and it made a big difference, [as did] the safety car."

The Finn reckons that in normal circumstances, there's hardly anything between the three front-running teams on race day when everyone is on the same rubber. And that's a good thing according to Raikkonen.

"Pure speed, with everybody on the same tyres in a race… it's difficult, very difficult, to say. I think it's nice like that, for everybody to watch, because nobody really knows.

"Everybody would love to know but nobody really [does] because it changes from race to race and such a small difference makes a big difference in the end result.

"You just have to wait and see. It might change from race to race, and who runs what tyres."

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