Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFerrari

Raikkonen: Malaysia pace no one-off

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Kimi Raikkonen says the pace showed by Ferrari in the Malaysian Grand Prix is not a one-off and expects the team to show similar performance in China.

Sebastian Vettel beat both Mercedes cars to win in a straight fight at Sepang, with Raikkonen recovering from an early puncture to finish comfortably in fourth place. With the heat in Malaysia leading to a two-stop strategy from Vettel which proved victorious over the three-stopping Mercedes', the conditions have been highlighted as a key factor in the result.

However, Raikkonen believes the impact of the conditions has been overstated, saying Ferrari would have been much closer to Mercedes in Australia - where Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg finished 30 seconds clear of Vettel - if it had enjoyed a smooth race.

“It might be the conditions [in Malaysia], very hot and good for us but I think even in Melbourne if we got behind them at the beginning I don’t think they would have pulled away a lot," Raikkonen said. "Obviously every circuit, conditions, everything plays a part of it but for sure it doesn't take away that it’s a pretty strong package.

"We know that we’re not exactly as fast as them - at least on one lap - but we’re working on that and from where we finished last year and have been starting this year is a big step.

"The team has been doing the right things, pushing us in the right direction and little by little we will try to catch up with Mercedes, even though Sebastian won we still know we have to improve in certain areas.”

Click here for a more lighthearted look at some of the scenes from the Malaysian Grand Prix

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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.