F1 News
Raikkonen: "Don't think the pressure was any different" at Alfa Romeo and Ferrari
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Alfa Romeo star Kimi Raikkonen doesn't think the pressure on him at Alfa Romeo is any different than it was during his time at Ferrari, as the Finn does admit he's disappointed at the lack of performance in the latter half of the season.
Raikkonen swapped seats with Charles Leclerc at the end of the 2018 season, with Leclerc making the step up to Ferrari while Raikkonen went back to the team that once gave him his debut in Formula 1.
The 40-year-old started the year brilliantly, scoring points consistently while teammate Antonio Giovinazzi failed to get off the mark until halfway through the season.
Then, performance fell off. Raikkonen couldn't score points in any of the races after the summer break until spectacularly getting fourth place in Brazil.
“But it’s a bit too late, looking more as a team halfway through but that’s how it goes," the 2007 champion told Formula Rapida.
"I think we learned some things. We brought a new front wing which helped a bit, so we’re trying to improve, so it’s all learning for next year and we try to do a better job as a team.”
Asked about the pressure difference between Alfa and Ferrari, the Iceman insisted he didn't notice much difference from last year.
“I don’t think the pressure was any different.
“We want to do well and like I said, it’s a shame we’ve kind of fallen down as a team but as a driver, I think everyone puts a lot of pressure on themselves and in the end the work that we do over the race weekend is not really any different whichever team you’re in."