Kimi Raikkonen qualified in a surprising 5th place for the Italian Grand Prix. However the Finnish driver does not believe that his poor placing was a result of his morning practice crash.
Raikkonen had a big crash at the Ascari chicane in morning practice. His car was so badly damaged that he was forced to switch cars for qualifying, although the team were able to use his regular engine.
During qualifying, Raikkonen was beaten to fourth spot by the BMW of Nick Heidfeld meaning that his Ferrari will start the Italian Grand Prix from the third row of the grid. However Raikkonen believes that the accident did not influence his afternoon s speed.
“For sure, it didn t help, but I don t think it hurt us too much,†Raikkonen explained. “We will see tomorrow in the race how we do. Of course we could have done better in qualifying and in the whole day so far but I think we are still in a good position for the race.â€
When questioned on the accident cause, Raikkonen said, “I just locked the rear brakes and unfortunately it turned right and not left. Once it turned right, I could not do anything, so I just waited until it stopped. Once you are on the grass, there is not much you can do.â€