Lack of downforce cost Ferrari - Raikkonen

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Kimi Raikkonen blamed Ferrari's poor showing in the British Grand Prix on a lack of downforce which was accentuated by the damp conditions.

The race started behind the Safety Car due to heavy rain 20 minutes before the start, with the track drying slowly throughout the race. Raikkonen started from fifth on the grid and had dropped to sixth before a late move on Sergio Perez regained fifth. Eventually crossing the line nearly 70 seconds behind race-winner Lewis Hamilton, Raikkonen believes a lack of downforce compared its rivals hurt Ferrari even more due to the conditions.

"Obviously the whole weekend has been difficult and I think this was as good as we could get," Raikkonen said. "We seem to be missing a little of downforce and in a place like this, with these conditions, it’s not easy because of that. We need downforce here to be fast, especially with mixed conditions, the wind and everything. You take a big penalty for that but that’s how it was here.

"The next circuits are much more normal for us. Downforce will help in any place, it doesn’t matter where we go, so that’s definitively what we need to be able to challenge in every kind of circuit and beat the Mercedes."

And Raikkonen feels the level of downforce is currently Ferrari's biggest weakness, especially on a circuit such as Silverstone which features so many high-speed corners.

"Obviously we have to improve in all the areas, I’m sure if we got the same downforce as some cars in front of us it would be a completely different story. Like I said all the areas can be improved but I think, right now, in this kind of condition and circuit that’s our biggest issue."

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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.