Kimi Raikkonen says he has “a lot of trust” in Ferrari's ability to fix the issues that have been hampering its progress in 2016.
Having entered the current Formula One season as Mercedes’ nearest challenger, the Scuderias has failed to build on a promising three-win campaign in 2015 and slipped behind Red Bull in the competitive order.
Ferrari has been well aware of its weaknesses, especially in terms of aerodynamics, and its 2007 world champion is confident these can be cured for next year.
“Yes we have been trying to improve them all year and to put it simply we need more grip and more power to go faster,” Raikkonen said.
“It sounds very simple but it is not unfortunately and I think we have understood a lot of things lately and we have great people to work and I have a lot of trust that we will fix those issues for next year.
“There is no guarantee where we are going to be but what we have done this year and understood things, we can be quite confident that we will be good. Good enough? That is a different matter.”
This weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix sees the Finn return to the scene of his title win, with Raikkonen sealing the 2007 crown by taking victory at Interlagos in a nail-biting showdown against the McLaren pair of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
“It was a great memory in my first year with Ferrari and we managed to win it which wasn’t anywhere easier overall,” the 37-year-old added. “We started out okay then had some difficulties in the middle of the season and came back strong and managed to win it.
“It was a great end to a tricky season and obviously it was quite a long time ago so hopefully we will soon be in a position to fight at least for it [world titles].
“The end result was good but coming in we had nothing to lose so in that way it was easy as another race and we did a good job. It was a great memory.”
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