Raikkonen: 'We're definitively ahead of Red Bull'

Kimi Raikkonen insisted that despite losing out to Max Verstappen in the Spanish Grand Prix, Ferrari remain well ahead of Red Bull in terms of overall team performance.

"Obviously what happened to Mercedes in the last race gave us an opportunity and we managed to come out in second and third place," said Raikkonen. "We'd much rather be the winners but it didn't happen.

"In Barcelona we had an opportunity but we didn't manage to take it for many reasons. But I don't think Red Bull is suddenly ahead of us - it's just what happened in the last race.

"Still it doesn't mean we are behind Red Bull. In Barcelona they were ahead of us with one car, but we definitively think we are ahead of them [as a team].

"We definitively want to be winners, that's always the aim, it was the aim last year and also the years before that. We keep working hard, on the things we can do, but it takes time and it's not going to happen overnight, we need some patience.

"I think we won a race earlier last year but that doesn't mean we're doing any worse this year. We've had some issues, some retirements for both cars and that obviously doesn't help. That's part of the game and we try to push and go forward.

"There are certain things we could have definitively do better, we've had issues that cost us some points and Mercedes is very strong. We need to be stronger than them to beat them I think if we get the maximum out of the car in every qualifying session and race we can be very close to them and beat them.

"It just hasn't gone exactly as we planned but that doesn't mean we're worse off than we were one year ago. For sure we improved a lot and we have a stronger package, but we haven't achieved what we want.

"I don't look at it like we've done a bad job; for sure we could have done a better job but we are in a stronger position that we were one year ago.

"Maybe from the results it doesn't look that way, but that doesn't always mean everything. And I'm sure there will be circuits that will me much better for us so we can try to win, and not so good for the guys we're fighting with."

Raikkonen wouldn't be drawn on whether Monaco would be one of the places that might advantage Ferrari, which hasn't won here since 2001.

"This is a special place, in many ways, because Monaco is very tight, qualifying is very important," he said. "Here it's a bit more tricky, because it's a very narrow circuit, so there's a lot more chances of hitting traffic.

"It's a different circuit but for us, as a team, it's the same approach we take in every other race weekend, trying to maximise all the details and make the most out of it. Just because it's Monaco it doesn't mean we have to change everything and do things completely different than in a, let's say, normal race."

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Technical analysis: Barcelona

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