Kimi Raikkonen says he was happy to see his fellow Finn Valtteri Bottas score his first F1 victory in Russia, even if the result meant a defeat for Ferrari.
Bottas was joined on the podium by third-place finisher Raikkonen, creating a rare if not unprecedented display of two Finnish flags. Raikkonen had started second, but he lost out to Bottas at the start, and stayed third until the flag.
“I’m happy for Valtteri,” he said. “People always think that we have something against each other, because we have come close to each other and into each other a few times but no, I’m very happy for him to win.
“It doesn’t mean that I’m not happy if Seb wins. It’s going to be close between both of the Ferrari and both of the Mercedes drivers this year, so it will be exciting – but unfortunately a lot of times it will depend of what happens in a first lap. That’s how it’s going to play out. Hopefully it goes better. I’m happier this weekend. but obviously not happy to be third, but this is how it goes sometimes.”
Raikkonen admitted his disappointment about the start.
“I had a pretty poor start, comparing even to Seb. Got wheel spin straight away and then I really thought I was going to lose a lot more but then luckily, both of these cars went side-by-side and I started to get the tow and I managed to stay ahead of Lewis in the end. But, I don’t know what happened. It was slippery and lost a lot, so, not ideal. If you look last year it’s all about starts, and if you lose a place in those, it’s going to be a boring race.
“Not a lot happened after that. Mercedes, Valtteri was a bit too fast but then we were kind of holding our positions but nothing really happened the whole race, so, all about the start.”
Kimi caused much amusement in Sochi when a radio message revealed that he didn’t know which Mercedes driver was leading: “I was not sure which one it was in the front of the race. I was asking – I was not sure because it was a bit confusing for me after the pitstops. Obviously I realized straight after. For me it made no difference: there was one Mercedes in front of us. I didn’t ask before.”
Meanwhile, Raikkonen lies fourth in the championship having finished fourth, fifth, fourth and third in the opening quartet of races.
“I think I have had a little bit of a rough start to the season. Far from ideal, but this weekend for sure has been a step forward. We have been happier with how things have been running but we still only finished third.
“We lost out at the start and then not a lot happened after that. We keep trying and keep improving and I’m sure we’ll get there, but all the small details have to be exactly there and then you will get the first place. The four or five of us are very close most of the time, so it’s the small differences that make a big difference in the end.”
