Kimi Raikkonen says Ferrari did not have the pace to challenge Mercedes at the Russian Grand Prix after the 2007 world champion finished a distant third in Sochi.
The Finn crossed the line nearly 32s adrift of race winner Nico Rosberg, and was only able to close the gap to second-placed Lewis Hamilton after the Briton had to nurse a water leak on his W07.
Having struggled with the set-up of his SF16-H all weekend in Russia, Raikkonen admits he could not take the fight to the two-time Constructors’ champions.
“It’s not exactly what we want,” the 36-year-old said of his podium finish. “We want to win races and put the two cars as far up as we can. We tried to today. I had a pretty OK start, managed to get Valtteri [Bottas] on the first lap but again after the restart, same as last year here, we just did not have the speed.
“He managed to get me and then when I tried to get past him obviously Lewis [Hamilton] got past me, but we just had to try to run a bit longer and pass them and we managed to leapfrog the Williams but we were not fast enough for Mercedes.
“Then we had good speed but with the fuel saving we had to take some measures, so obviously you cannot push as fast as the car can go.”
Raikkonen’s 82nd career podium was also Ferrari’s 700th top-three finish in Formula One. The Finn moves up to third in the 2016 Drivers’ standings, though he already trails championship leader Rosberg by 55 points.
REPORT: Rosberg eases to win after Kvyat takes out Vettel
AS IT HAPPENED: 2016 Russian Grand Prix
Breakfast with ... Martin Brundle
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