Qualifying homework for Raikkonen
ByAutoSport
Published 25/05/2015 at 12:08 GMT
Kimi Raikkonen has been told to raise his game in Formula 1 qualifying by Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene, who says the Finn needs to do some 'homework'.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Raikkonen conceded his performance in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix was "a disaster", before starting and finishing sixth on Sunday.
It is not the first time this year Raikkonen has struggled on a Saturday afternoon, with such form seriously affecting his race results.
In qualifying around the streets of Monte-Carlo, Raikkonen finished 1.329s off of polesitter Lewis Hamilton, and almost six tenths of a second behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
Explaining Raikkonen's woes, Arrivabene said: "The problem with Kimi was qualifying.
"He caught some traffic, and there was a very big gap to the guys in front of him.
"But then during the race you saw, at a certain part of the race, he had the same pace as Sebastian.
"So if he improves in qualifying then he will have no problems in a race because Kimi in a race is super and he can do a good job."
With a wry smile, Arrivabene then added: "If I have to give him some homework then he has to write 100 times 'I have to be better in qualifying'."
Arrivabene, though, recognises Ferrari has to up its pace in qualifying in general as Vettel has been faced with a Mercedes front-row wall in four of the six races this season.
"Mercedes are very quick in qualifying, and this is an indication for us on where to focus our attention for the future to work," added Arrivabene.
"If you are going to start in a good position on the grid then the race is going to be easier.
"When you have air in front of you, and not other competitors, it's good for you and the tyres because with someone in front of you the consumption of the tyres goes down very fast.
"So for us it's something we have to work on."
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