Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFerrari

Ferrari definitely catching Mercedes - Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen says Ferrari is definitely catching Mercedes but cannot be satisfied until it has the fastest car.

Ferrari showed encouraging pace during the first race of the season in Australia, with Sebastian Vettel leading Raikkonen throughout the first stint. Raikkonen retired after a red flag period while Vettel finished third having had to make an extra pit stop, but the close race has increased expectations that Ferrari is a threat for the championship this season.

Asked if Ferrari can really take the fight to Mercedes this year, Raikkonen replied: "That’s the aim, obviously but there’s work to be done.

"We’re quite happy with the place we started from but we’re never fully happy until we’re always at the front as a team. We’re catching up but in Melbourne I didn’t have a good result because of the retirement, but it’s clear the car is definitively a step forward but there’s still work to be done to be exactly where we want to be."

Having retired due to a turbo problem, Raikkonen says he doesn't feel unlucky when he is struck by such issues.

"Obviously I’d rather have no issues but sometimes these things happen but you cannot just say it was bad luck. We have to do things better, try to avoid any issues.

"In one way it’s unlucky to have a problem in a race, but when something breaks it’s not just luck. There’s an issue behind and we just have to make sure we finish those issues.

"We didn’t have any problems in testing, so when there are things that you don’t know, you cannot do anything about it. I’m sure we’ll be fine now but that issue cost us in the race in Melbourne."

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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.