Kimi Raikkonen admits he had "a difficult day" as he struggled with set-up during Friday practice for the Russian Grand Prix.

The Finn was fourth quickest in both Friday sessions but over a second slower than Lewis Hamilton in FP2 despite using the supersoft tyre. Raikkonen had to compensate for Sebastian Vettel's lack of running during the second session and he says he couldn't get a good set-up to feel happy with his car.

"It was a difficult day," Raikkonen said. "Nothing seemed to work as well as I wanted. One of those days struggling to make the tyres work and making sense out of the set-up. Apart from that everything was more or less okay."

Ferrari is using an upgraded power unit this weekend in Russia having spent three development tokens and Raikkonen is sure it will provide an improvement even though he would not compare it to the old specification.

"It is a new engine. Comparing a new engine to the same (old) engine is  very difficult to say. It feels different in different places and different days . It works well, and we wouldn’t use any new parts - engine or any other - if we don’t think it is a good thing."

REPORT: Hamilton quickest as Vettel hits trouble in FP2

AS IT HAPPENED: Russian Grand Prix - FP2

Silbermann says ... 'Russia OK' shock

Romain Grosjean column: Haas brought back down to earth

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

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.

Recent Posts

McLaren: No regrets over timing of Norris pit stop in Sao Paulo GP

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has insisted that the squad has no regrets about their…

1 hour ago

Williams' Boutsen hoists the mainsail in Adelaide

On this day in 1989, Williams' Thierry Boutsen secured his second F1 win when he…

3 hours ago

Horner: Max 'answered critics' with epic Sao Paulo GP drive

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner hailed Max Verstappen’s sensational Sao Paulo Grand Prix victory…

3 hours ago

Sainz left puzzled by double crash drama in rainy São Paulo

Carlos Sainz was left scratching his head after a disastrous Sunday at the Sao Paulo…

4 hours ago

Alonso pushed through agonizing pain to complete Sao Paulo GP

Fernando Alonso braved both physical agony and mechanical challenges in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix,…

6 hours ago

Alpine double-podium in Brazil could deliver $30 million windfall

Alpine’s remarkable double podium at the São Paulo Grand Prix with Esteban Ocon and Pierre…

20 hours ago