Kimi Raikkonen is confident “things will turn around” after the Ferrari driver only picked up four points across the last three grands prix.
Over that span, the 2007 world champion has collided twice with Williams’ Valtteri Bottas – in Russia and Mexico – and crashed out of the race at Austin. While Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel is fighting with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg over the runner-up spot, Raikkonen has now slipped to fifth behind his fellow Finn in the Drivers’ standings.
“[We had] a s*** weekend [at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez] but we go for the next one and hopefully at one point, certain things will turn around and we'll start getting good results,” Raikkonen is quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
“It's not nice for me nor for the team but it's part of the game and unfortunately we've been going through that for quite a while. I'm sure we will get a good result.”
Raikkonen’s Mexican Grand Prix ended when he sustained rear suspension damage on his SF15-T after coming together with Bottas. Race stewards quickly decided against taking any further action.
Three weeks earlier, the 36-year-old had been handed a 20-second time penalty for punting his countryman off track in the final lap at Sochi.
Reflecting on both clashes in Mexico, the Williams ace insisted that there was “nothing personal” before adding that he did not feel the need to talk about the incident with Raikkonen.
In his typically unflappable demeanour, the 20-time grand prix winner appears to be on the same page.
“I don't think it helps nor changes anything. What has happened has happened and maybe [Bottas] feels better now [about] what happened in Russia,”
“I have nothing against anybody. In the end, this is racing and if he has a better feeling now, it's good for him, but things have a certain way of working out in the long run.”
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