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Kimi Raikkonen says a mistake on his final Q3 lap was the difference between qualifying third and fifth for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.
Raikkonen has been much happier with Ferrari’s SF15-T after struggling with its predecessor throughout last season. In Melbourne he was narrowly pipped to fourth by new team-mate Sebastian Vettel and the Finn blames himself for his position on the third row of the grid.
“I had a big mistake, I lost three tenths in corner three and then just messed up the next two corners,” Raikkonen said. “The rest of the lap was pretty good, so we should have been in P3 but that is how it is.”
The 2007 world champion admits his driving has been below-par over the Melbourne weekend so far but he is excited by his chances in the race.
“I don’t think I have been driving very well on the one lap this weekend. Qualifying was good and then I made a mistake, so it is a bit disappointing, but that is how it goes. At least we have a pretty good package and overall we are happy as a team, we are working well together, so we know we have the speed but we have to improve in all areas. As for me, do a better job on driving, but it is not a very typical circuit. I was better in qualifying than in the morning or yesterday but it is not ideal.”
