“We’ll keep trying,” Raikkonen swears as he chases points in the last three races of his F1 career

Kimi Raikkonen admits that it will be easier to enjoy the last three races of his Formula 1 career if his car is as competitive as it was on Sunday in Interlagos after a race to catch up that narrowly lacked points.

After a tough sprint hampered by contact with his teammate Antonio Giovinazzi, Raikkonen kicked off the Sao Paulo Grand Prix from the pit lane when Alfa Romeo changed its rear wing to have better chances of overtaking. Despite the early contact with Mick Schumacher, Raikkonen climbed to 12th place and was within seven seconds of the points when the checkered flag fell.

“I do not know [if I had damage] but I think nothing big, ”said Raikkonen. “I was hit more on the front wing on the first few laps, by one of the Williams, but the car was, let’s say, a lot nicer than at any other point of the weekend because we changed it a little and had to start out of the pit lane. We still fell short, but at least it was better than [the Sprint].

“We changed the car a bit, I had the feeling that this is the only way to make progress. It was a better car and we could race, but we didn’t get any points from it. But we will keep trying.

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“That was definitely the best we could do, it was the right decision to change the car and start from the pit lane. Sure, the car was a lot more like it should have been originally, but at least we could race and actually follow people compared to [Saturday]. We were able to follow the people through the last sector and even overtake them, but we need the points for the championship and we didn’t get them. “

The advantage of the setup change on Raikkonen’s car became even more apparent compared to Giovinazzi’s race, as the Italian couldn’t get past George Russell’s Williams.

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“The first part of the race wasn’t that bad and after the first pit stop I was stuck in a traffic jam with Russell and [Lance] Stroll, ”said Giovinazzi. “Then we pitted again and I was in traffic with Russell so it was difficult to overtake and the race was in jeopardy.

“Unfortunately I was never in the open air, but we have to see what you think, but now I don’t know. I was in the car so I had to stop when they called me, so we need to understand a little more. “