Kimi Raikkonen has revealed that a problem with his DRS was behind his Belgian Grand Prix exit, having also sustained substantial car damage on the opening lap.
Raikkonen challenged for the leading positions through practice, topping Friday’s running, but lost out in a Q3 session that took place in mixed conditions.
Raikkonen was light-fuelled, with Ferrari splitting strategies in order to cover the weather, meaning he missed the best track conditions, and was shuffled down to sixth place.
Raikkonen was clipped at La Source by Daniel Ricciardo – who had been hit by Fernando Alonso’s flying McLaren – and sustained a right-rear puncture.
Raikkonen eventually returned to the pit lane for repairs and re-joined at the back of the pack, but withdrew shortly after in the wake of the rear-wing problem.
“Somebody hit me on the rear, got a puncture, so that’s all I know,” he said.
“I had a lot of damage also on the floor, rear wing, as I needed to do the full lap with a flat tyre, and then it ended up being so bad that the DRS opened itself all the time.
“Obviously there was no point in carrying on. Obviously it was far from ideal.”
Expanding further on the misfortune of getting involved in the La Source collision, Raikkonen said: “It is what you get when you’ve got a bad qualifying. People start doing things that obviously don’t work very well. I got hit and that’s it.”
Raikkonen retained third place in the Drivers’ Championship in spite of his retirement but now holds only a two-point lead over Valtteri Bottas.
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