Raikkonen – I must qualify better to win title

Aug.6 (GMM)

World champion Kimi Raikkonen admits he cannot defend his drivers’ title this season if he fails to find a quick fix to his qualifying struggles. Once out of Fernando Alonso’s slipstream, the Finn and his F2008 was the fastest car at the Hungaroring last Sunday, setting the fastest lap of the race.

“It was good to drive, it felt nice, but it was much too late to fight for the victory,” the Ferrari driver, who had to nurse a failing rear suspension to the chequered flag, said.

Raikkonen qualified just sixth in Budapest and admits he currently cannot make the car work over a fast lap on Saturday afternoons.

Teammate Felipe Massa and championship rival Lewis Hamilton’s problems meant he actually closed in on the points deficit in Hungary, and Raikkonen now lies just 5 points behind with seven races to go.

But the 28-year-old said this week:

“It’s obvious that you cannot win the championship if you start every time from the sixth place in the grid.

“You can be one second quicker than anybody else, but if you start from the sixth at Hockenheim or Hungary, you cannot use that speed at all,” Raikkonen explained.