Kimi Raikkonen drove a gigantic first stint of 48 laps at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix that eventually helped him finish ninth for Alfa Romeo. But even 48 laps were not long enough, said the Finn, because “more patience” would have allowed him to benefit from a safety car in the late race – and to score even more points.
Raikkonen had the bad luck that only three laps after his pit stop a safety car for the accident of Max Verstappen gave his rivals a “free” stop, Alfas first colons of the year and only for the second time Raikkonen in 2020.
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But while no one could have predicted the safety car, Raikkonen felt that given Alfa Romeo’s problems, the team should have played more this year.
“I think in the position we were in we should have been a little more patient and see what happens,” said Raikkonen. “[Pitting on Lap 48] was the plan in the first place, but I think we ran out of patience in the end. We should have stayed longer [out] because we didn’t have much to lose and only to win if there was a safety car – and then of course one two laps later.
It was the first time that Raikkonen and Giovinazzi both scored in one race this year
“I don’t know how much it would have made a difference in the end, but still both cars were on the points, happy or not, there were some cars that failed but we were in the right place to take advantage of them. so let’s take it. “
After Alfa Romeo scored only once in the first eight races of 2020, Alfa Romeo has now scored three points in the last five Grands Prix. But although Raikkonen was able to drive one lap in the league with Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari in the first part of the race – the two were fourth and fifth during their respective long first stints – Raikkonen said that Alfa Romeo still had work to do, to fill the gap with their main rivals.
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“It’s not that bad in the race,” said Raikkonen about the performance of his car. “I could somehow hold out with the Ferrari. They were a bit faster, but we were a bit on the edge the whole time, so we need a little more speed.
“We have to push so hard that in some races where the life of the tires is limited, we have to ruin the tires to keep up with the others. So there are a lot of little things that are not yet optimal, but we will keep working on them. We have to qualify a little higher to be easier in the race. “
Kimi Raikkonen: “We were in the right place” to benefit from DNFs
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