Raikkonen “disappointed not to have a win yet”

2012 F1 season

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Kimi Raikkonen says he’s disappointed not to have won a race yet after finishing on the podium three times so far this year.

The 2007 world champion said: “If you asked me before the start of the season whether I would be happy with podiums I would have said yes, but now I’ve had some good results, I want more.

“In the last few races the results haven’t been as strong as I’ve wanted. We’ve finished well but I’m disappointed not to have a win yet. We just have to get everything together and I’m sure it can come.”

Raikkonen was running ahead of Fernando Alonso in the European Grand Prix before a slow pit stop let the Ferrari driver past on his way to victory. Raikkonen finished second.

“The race wasn’t perfect for me,” said Raikkonen. “I got a good start but then I got blocked and lost quite a few places. I managed to retake some positions but it wasn’t easy.

“At the restart, I lost a place to Lewis [Hamilton]. I just got too much wheelspin out of the corner.

“Then, when I was in third place, a few cars retired and I thought I would save the tyres a bit and try to get Lewis at some point. I saw him sliding and it wasn’t until the last few laps when I could make the move, but I got him in the end.”

He added: “After the bridge, I made a mistake and Lewis got past me. It was my own mistake. I would have overtaken him sooner to get the place back if I could have done. I was not waiting for the last or second last lap; I just didn’t have the speed. I had to wait until he ran out of tyres.

“Then I got the chance. I tried to get closer and closer but I was not fast enough earlier on. If Lewis had not got past me I would have had a better chance against Fernando, but it’s one of those things; if you make a mistake you pay the price.”

Raikkonen was also a close second to Sebastian Vettel in Bahrain. The Lotus driver finished third in the Spanish Grand Prix but was rapidly closing on the leading pair at the chequered flag.

2012 F1 season


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Image © Lotus F1 Team/LAT

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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47 comments on “Raikkonen “disappointed not to have a win yet””

  1. in the third line of the article it says: ‘The 2009 world champion…’ I think you mean the 2007 world champion.

    1. @blockwall2 Changed it, thanks.

  2. if lotus can at least keep up with development SPA will be his race..

    1. the only thing is that at Spa its usually quite cold.

  3. Not if it is wet!

  4. Looking at the performance Lotus had in the early part of the season relative to everyone bar McLaren they should’ve been able to win, be it with Grosjean or Räikkönen…

  5. His time will come. We know he has the class and the car has performance necessary to do so. It works better on high wear tracks on hotter days. Fortunately a couple of the races coming up are often warm affairs, and then we back overseas again where some of those races are traditionally hot.

    He’ll string it together, I’m sure. Lets not forget that this is his first season back after two off, in which a lot has changed in the sport. He’s also racing in one of the closest and most competitive fields the sport has seen for a long time, if not ever. I think Spa has Kimi’s name on it this year. Failing that, hopefully Schumacher’s!

  6. Not sure his win will come. The Lotus is a great car, but it doesn’t seem to be able to quite fulfill the expectations people have. Before each and every race people are tipping Grosjean or Kimi to take pole or the win, but they are just that bit out of reach it seems…

  7. I think he’s right to be a bit disappointed, but not so much he’s bent out of shape over it. Every race he’s finished on the podium he has had the pace to win that Grand Prix, but several errors both tactical and simple misjudgements have cost him at least a win or two.

    Considering how consistently strong the Lotus car itself appears I would be very surprised if Kimi or Roman went the whole season without a win. It just has to fall their way, slightly, once and they’ll do it.

    1. It think that is exactly it @collosal-squid he is dissappointed a bit because he knows they had it in them to win already, but on the other hand he must feel fine that the car is still amongst the top runners and has every chance to give wins in the coming races when they do get everything right.

  8. Alonso, overtaked Raikkonen on the pits. Raikkonen had 4.8s, Alonso 3.2s . If the team will be stronger at pits, maybe he will win. How hard is to put 4 bloody wheels??

    1. ask McLaren!

      1. Haha xD

      2. Saurabh (@sksahukanker62)
        2nd July 2012, 13:53

        LOL !!!

    2. It’s really hard, you cant imagine how easy is to cross the nut, plus those wheels arent as light as the mechanics make them look like, even when the refueling was standard, there were delays relative to crossed nuts, faulty guns, and late mechanics.

    3. I urge you to go work at a team and try to put on even one of the wheels in 4.8s…

  9. It’s hard to imagine a race Lotus might win, of course they have it in them, but to pick the race… I think Hungary could be the one, if it’s hot.

    1. Hungary and Spa to follow. If Kimi wins those two, he will be up in the top 3 wdc.

      btw Hungary: there are still some Finnish fans camping around Hungaroring from the Hakkinen days who are still chanting that awful chant of theirs: “Mi-ka Ha-kkinen…”

    2. Aditya Banerjee (@)
      30th June 2012, 6:05

      Monza too maybe…

  10. It seems to me that both Lotus drivers are still missing that last bit of form to string together a perfect weekend. I think Raikkonen has sometimes been too tentative in overtaking, and coupled with his too often disappointing qualifying performances, he gets stuck in traffic no matter how good his race pace is. Sure, his win can come, but it can just as easily not.

    Grosjean, on the other hand, has sometimes been too aggressive around other cars, but at least he’s been qualifying nearer the front. Kimi may be more consistent on Sundays, but I think Grosjean is more likely to pick up Lotus’s first win.

    1. PaulyT1973 (@slimboyfatpauly)
      29th June 2012, 23:47

      +1

    2. small matter of the steering column.
      Kimi is driving a car that does not suit him enough to give him that confidence you must have to wring that extra 20% performance.
      Nevertheless he is doing a great job with an oversteering car that lacks the precision he likes. KR’s probably the most precise of the top drivers. If Lotus can give him that little extra sensitivity he will get them the wins. The danger is they will not bother because of this idea that well there’s Grosjean and he can get the win!! Let’s go down the pub and not bother about Raikkonen….

      1. Or ” go down to the pub and join Raikkonen”.

    3. Tyre management is the main characteristic in judging drivers in 2012.
      In qualification, if a driver is faster than another driver, but he use more tyres than the other, then is not so succesuful in race. And the race is what it matters.

      1. True, great race pace is compromised by the tyres if you can’t get out of the traffic, Kimi is balancing his desire to go for the win against the need to be gentle on the tyres to finish in the points.

  11. This team is just one of the best surprises of the championship. Before the season began, I expected to see a struggling Grosjean and an ageing and demotivated Raikkonen. I’m glad it’s not the case, they’re probably the most refreshing pair of the field this year.

    1. I completely agree. They are the most refreshing pair this year. They are both just as thirsty to win again or for the first time.

    2. Yes, and it’s good to hear a driver who wants to win, and isn’t just aiming for ‘a podium’. I’m pleased it’s going well for them, because it was a bold and positive choice of drivers – the car’s great too but I’m sure the drivers egg each other on, even if Kimi can come across as a law unto himself.

      They could have gone for drivers like Senna, Petrov or Alguersuari, and ended up scoring a few points – but as it is, I think they’ll both win races this year

      I hope there’s a lesson there for other teams – that means you, Williams – get the best drivers you can.

    3. Indeed, Lotus is turning out to be my favourite team this year.

  12. PaulyT1973 (@slimboyfatpauly)
    29th June 2012, 23:33

    Just a pointer Keith……..u’ve put 2009 World Champion there by mistake bud instead of 2007.

  13. although grosjean is the (rightfully) hot driver at the moment, i’m not sure he’s blowing kimi away like people are saying. let’s add up the scores at the end of the season.

    1. I agree with that. It may end up though, that Grosjean gets more support from the team, simply because he spends more time with them. I was impressed with Grosjean in the last race – and I did not expect to see that much quality from him. However, I still think Kimi is a better driver because he is more “consistent and experienced”. The only downfall is that Kimi does not spend enough time with the team (which is crucial for support/development.. etc).

      On the second note, I don’t understand Kimi’s motivation. He should be happy that he is in a competitive team with his comeback (which is very lucky). He seems unhappy with results because he is not winning, but frankly I don’t think anything special has been done to deserve a win yet. All I am hearing are comments that he can’t wait until he wins. Well, I’d say a bit more development and effort needs to go in.

  14. How on earth does Alonso have two wins; Rosberg and Webber have won one, and even Maldonado has won a race yet Lotus haven’t is ridiculous.

    1. Agreed. The team haven’t really been performing to their car, IMO.

  15. Roald said it well…although I would like to see him win it seems like the Lotus can get near the top of the ladder only to find many others already standing in his way. Ask Schumacher he must be a bit tired of how crowded it is there…

  16. Aditya Banerjee (@)
    30th June 2012, 6:13

    Very few people have pointed out this… but I personally believe that two years out of competitive wheel-to-wheel racing(if you discount the two NASCAR races he started, that is) has cost Raikkonen of aggression. Unlike Grosjean, he couldn’t force a move on Hamilton, instead kept dilly-dallying till the McLaren’s tyres were shot. Also his position-defending too isn’t as great as it was before. How on earth was Rosberg able to pass him at the final chicane at Montreal around the outside so easily, when a few laps later he couldn’t pull a similar move on Massa, whose tyres were past their prime? It is because Kimi is probably focusing on finishing every race, as he knows it is the only way he will beat Grosjean in the standings come Interlagos.
    I don’t think Kimi will win a race this season. Grosjean will certainly, given his superb pace thus far. But I wil back Kimi to finish the WC season ahead of the Swiss-French driver.

    1. I think Kimi got plenty of what he came for, he has most wheel to wheel action this season and he proved to not needing DRS to over take. And unlike many people on the grid he was not crashing with others – why would you do that?

      Way more intelligent drive from Kimi this season, but this is how you adapt if you dont have a car that can just cruise past most of the other cars.

      Qualifying is going to be crucial for his Championship standing.

      1. Aditya Banerjee (@)
        2nd July 2012, 5:47

        But he got passed easily by Rosberg, in a position he shouldn’t have got passed, in Canada. Couldn’t he have forced the issue a bit and keep him behind till Perez came along out of the pits?
        I know he is probably playing it safe, and has been more level-headed than Grosjean. But figure this- over the course of his career, Kimi was outqualified only by two teammates-Heidfeld at Sauber(we can excuse Kimi for that as it was only his first season), and Massa in 2007/2008. After Massa beat him comprehensively in 2008, Kimi became demotivated, almost as if he’d hit a block in terms of performance. Now that Grosjean is regularly outqualifying Kimi will the same happen? I’m not sure, but he’ll have to raise his game and start outqualifying him.
        Just to clarify-I’m not a Kimi hater. He is one of my favourite drivers on the grid.

  17. I’d say the win is just around the corner for Kimi and Lotus F1, the only trouble is that Vettel and RBR have suddenly found the pace they were looking for, that’s the most significant threat. Also, the McLarens are as quick as the Lotuses, give or take.

  18. Kimi will probably win a race this season if Lotus is able to stay competitive. It`s typical for a driver that has been away from asphalt racing on the highest level to struggle in qualifying. Qualifying is all about pushing the car to the ragged edge, and to do that you need total confidence in the car and tyres. We`ve seen theis many times before when experienced drivers return to the “arena”, they struggle in qualifying untill they`re fully up to speed again. Give Raikkonen some time and he will be back to his former self in qualifying to.

    His absence from racing is less visible over race distance as he`s able to use his experience to make the best out of it. But we`re still not seeing the Raikkonen of old, he was much more aggressive in his previous stint in Formula 1. Give him some time and he`ll fix that too.

    Furthermore the Lotus is still not completely to Raikkonens liking, but it will get there.

    It has indeed been a great comeback by Raikkonen. I was expecting him to use more time getting up to speed and mixing it up at the front. I thought he would start beeing competitive in the second half of the championship, instead he`s been up there since the beginning. Remember Schumacher`s struggles in qualifying, this year he`s a lot closer to rosberg, but it took 2 years.

    SPA is going to be interesting this year..

    1. Spa has, is and always will be the iceman’s track. He even took the un-performing F60 to victory in 2009! The first year of the KERS systems, and he made full advantage of it by going wide in the first corner and getting more traction at the exit. Passed Kubica at the exit of Eau Rouge. He WILL win Spa, that’s not the problem. I just hope the Lotuses perform in lower temp conditions of Silverstone. He had an excellent race there back in 2007. Good race pace.

    2. I agree, it’s all about qualifying. Field is so close, you cannot afford staying behind the slower cars and frankly you can’t afford overworking tyres to get past them, cause guy in front is saving his.

      If Kimi starts qualify in top4, I’m happy!

  19. Clearly the car has the pace but just not when it matters it seems. My fear is that seeing the display of dominance (pre-alternator failure!) from Vettel’s RB8 in Valencia may put to bed any hope of a shock result. I don’t expect that any team is in a position to win every race from now on, but if Vettel is capable of pulling 1s/lap over his nearest competitor, it does change things considerably.

    1. Yeah, JB described his pace as scary.

  20. I think Kimi’s biggest problem is the race tactics. This season, even a top driver in a best car can’t win, if the race engineer is average. Mark Slade just can’t call the pitstops exactly right. Never has. McLaren and Schumacher didn’t let him go for nothing. Kimi always ends up behind slower cars or is passed by the closest rivals. The tires makes it much more difficult this year. You have to know exactly where you are going with all the variables. Look at Ferrari – an average car can lead and win the most, when there are excellent tactics behind.

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