Softer rubber won’t necessarily help Ferrari – Raikkonen

2015 Russian Grand Prix

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Kimi Raikkonen doesn’t expect Ferrari will be more competitive at Sochi because of the switch to softer rubber for this year’s race.

For this year’s race Pirelli has brought the super-soft tyre compound instead of the medium used 12 months ago, in addition to the soft tyre. Raikkonen’s team mate Sebastian Vettel won the most recent race where the two softest tyres were used, in Singapore.

However Raikkonen isn’t necessarily expecting a repeat. “This year we have soft and super-soft compounds, but this does not mean there are many similarities to Singapore,” he said.

“In fact, many things are different. The asphalt here is no longer new and tires are different as I said, so we’ll have to wait and see. Using a soft rubber does not necessarily give us bigger chances, but we’ll try our best.”

“There are so many little details which can make big differences to the global picture,” he added.

“Overtaking here is not easy and that may put a premium on qualifying but in general, at least for us, when you come to a set-up that makes the car quick on a single lap, it will also be quick on race trim.”

2015 Russian Grand Prix

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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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    4 comments on “Softer rubber won’t necessarily help Ferrari – Raikkonen”

    1. It looks like there will be not too many chance for the good positions…

    2. “Overtaking here is not easy and that may put a premium on qualifying but in general, at least for us, when you come to a set-up that makes the car quick on a single lap, it will also be quick on race trim.”

      I think F1 should address this for 2017. The parc férme rules tried to stimulate qualifying/race strategy but it’s obvious that cars tend to unanimously race as they qualify even with the whole no refuelling endurance thing going on.

    3. Ferrari is good at braking but apart from that Ferrari will as Honda and Renault, suffer against Mercedes cars. I was surprised by how much the BHP effect weighted on Suzuka and in here it should be even more pivotal to the outcome of the GP. I think the expected use of a softer combination of tyres for Russia is rational. Considering how well the Singapore GP went to Ferrari one has to ask if Ferrari could benefit from this. I think Ferrari won’t benefit from the softer tyres because the track doesn’t stress the tyres like Singapore does. I think the softer combination is going to help the weaker chassis to perform closer to RBR and Ferrari, on the low grip surface.

      article is tagged with “marlboro”. Is F1fanatic advertising marlboro for Ferrari.

      1. @peartree
        Everything I have heard recently has implied that Ferrari are on par or almost on par with Mercedes in the engine department. They are not losing out on the straights, they are losing time through medium and high speed corners where Mercedes produces more downforce. The difference in BHP between the two teams is negilible.

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