Kimi Raikkonen says he was surprised to feature near the top of the timesheets in practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix, after the Ferrari driver experienced what he described as “a messy day”.
The Finn was third and fourth fastest respectively across both Friday sessions, but he asked his team to check his SF16-H during FP2 after reporting over the radio that “something is not correct”.
Raikkonen eventually managed to finish within 0.3s of his team-mate Sebastian Vettel in the afternoon, something he was not expecting in the light of his struggles.
“It was quite a messy day from our side,” the 2007 world champion said. “We did not have a very smooth running and the feeling was not very good all day so I’m surprised the lap times is not too bad compared to how the feeling is.
“I’m sure we’re going to improve for Saturday but it was far from an ideal day.”
Raikkonen has also downplayed talks of Ferrari holding a slight advantage under high temperatures, after Vettel tasted victory at Sepang in scorching conditions last year.
“Honestly, I don’t know if that’s still going to make a big difference,” the 36-year-old added. “It’s better for us if it is a bit hot but I don’t see it as changing the whole picture.”
FP2 REPORT: Hamilton hits back to lead Rosberg in FP2
Silbermann says ... Bugged by Liberty
Romain Grosjean exclusive column: Haas can build momentum for 2017
Chris Medland's 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix preview
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
On this day in 2008, Formula 1 saw a spring chicken named Sebastian Vettel become…
Charles Leclerc left the Madring with no regrets about Ferrari's strategic gamble in the Spanish…
Lando Norris lost out on a victory at the Madring thanks to a perfectly miserable…
For Carlos Sainz, the Madring's first Formula 1 weekend was supposed to be a homecoming…
Cadillac Sergio Perez, DNF “Our race was going really strong up until the moment we…
Kimi Antonelli’s eighth win underlined his growing authority, but the Madring also exposed the fine…