Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen has put his struggles during the F1 2016 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix down to the tyres.
The Finnish racer got off to a good start when he jumped Daniel Ricciardo on the opening lap, but he dropped behind the Red Bull at the second round of stops.
From there, he lost out to Max Verstappen and team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who eventually went on to finish third on an alternative strategy.
Raikkonen finished in sixth place, three places down on where he was after the opening lap, following more tyre struggles.
“It was not an easy race for me, the car was pretty OK, but I suffered with the tyres, to make them last,” he explained.
“I was constantly trying to keep the fronts alive. After the start I was in a good position, but I struggled with the first set of softs: at the end of the stint they kind of came back and improved, but we kept losing places.
“When Seb [Vettel] came close to me, I knew that he was on a different strategy and I let him go.
“Obviously it has been quite a tricky year, far from what we want as a team, but lately we have been working well, doing the right things.
“Now we need to keep working this way and hopefully next year, with the new car, we’ll be where we want to be.”
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