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Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari lost downforce as a result of the puncture he suffered at the start of the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Raikkonen qualified 11th after being caught out in wet conditions on Saturday and then got hit from behind on the first lap by Felipe Nasr. He had to complete an entire lap with a puncture and as a consequence dropped to the back of the pack.
From there he was able to fight back to fourth, although he was unable to take part in the battle at the front between team-mate Sebastian Vettel and the two Mercedes.
“When those tyres break they usually mangle up the cut out on the floor, and that’s an extremely sensitive aerodynamic area,” Ferrari technical director James Allison said. “It was not enough damage to make him anything other than the fourth quickest car out there, but it was enough damage to mean that tyre degradation was not quite at the same level as Sebastian’s because his downforce was lower. It was a good effort for him punching his way through the field like he did.”
Raikkonen said bad luck this weekend had held him back after he showed very strong pace – arguably better than Vettel’s – in Friday practice.
