Kimi Raikkonen was in characteristically phlegmatic mood at the end of today's British Grand Prix at
Silverstone, after a mistaken tyre strategy by
Ferrari cost him any hope of challenging for victory.
The Finn had looked menacing in the early stages of the race, closing in on the back of leader
Lewis Hamilton prior to the first round of pit-stops – but that was where it all began to go wrong.
Sticking with the same set of intermediate tyres ultimately left the reigning
Formula 1 World Champion scrabbling around for grip within the space of around ten laps, seeing him succumb to
Heikki Kovalainen and
Nick Heidfeld practically in one fell swoop, and he later endured a brace of spins before overhauling the
Renault of
Fernando Alonso in the dying laps to at least salvage five points from a race that fell a long way short of expectations – with fastest lap to his name ultimately proving little consolation.
“I am disappointed,” the 28-year-old reflected afterwards, “but I am equally aware that things could have been much worse. We had the possibility to win the race but we made a mistake at the first pit-stop, keeping the same set of tyres, because we expected the track conditions to improve. It was a joint decision – we are a team and we win or lose together.
“Things are not going too well for me at the moment, given all that happened in the last few races, but I am leading the championship, even if it is on equal terms with Felipe and Lewis. We know we have a great potential, but we have to put everything in place to get the most out of it.”
Raikkonen's understandable frustrations were shared by his Maranello paymasters Stefano Domenicali and Luca Baldisserri – both of whom were left ruing a key strategic error that cost the
Scuderia the chance of making it six successes from nine races so far this season.
