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Raikkonen hopeful after positive Friday practice

10:18, 28 Jul 2018

byJake Williams-Smith

Kimi Raikkonen will be going into final practice and qualifying with a positive outlook on the Hungarian Grand Prix after the strong pace Ferrari showed on Friday. The Finn was fourth fastest in FP2 whilst teammate Sebastian Vettel was top and showed how devastating the race pace of Ferrari was.

Speaking to the media after second practice, Raikkonen admitted the team still had work to do but that he was happy with how things were going ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.

“It was a very normal Friday trying things and learning as much as possible. The conditions were not very easy in many ways, but it’s normal on a Friday.

“We don’t really pay too much attention to the lap times, they really don’t count in a practice session.

“For sure we still have some work to do, but it was not too bad and the car worked as we expected.

“Hopefully tomorrow we’ll have the speed we need.”

Ferrari are looking strong for a good result on Sunday with title rivals Mercedes struggling around the Budapest circuit. Neither Lewis Hamilton or Valtteri Bottas completed their qualifying simulations after making mistakes on their flying laps, something they cannot afford to repeat come qualifying.

In what could be looked back on as an opportunity missed at Hockenheim, Raikkonen may well have gone on to win the race in Germany had it not been for a mistake when he and Bottas made their way through lapped traffic, he will be hoping to make amends and record his first race victory since 2013.