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From GMM
Kimi Raikkonen has pointed to Pirelli's reversion to 2012-specification tires, and the tightening of the operating guidelines, as the reason he has fallen off the pace at recent grands prix.
The Finn denied that his impending switch to Ferrari might explain why teammate Romain Grosjean appears to have moved ahead inside the Lotus team.
Told there is an obvious link between Raikkonen's drop in pace and his 2014 move to Ferrari, teammate Grosjean insisted: "It may look like it, but there is no direct link.
"Ok, it's my chance to prove that I can lead the team, but from my side it was all about just taking one step at a time," the on-form Frenchman told Die Welt newspaper.
Raikkonen, meanwhile, pointed to the tires, whose specification was changed by Pirelli in the wake of the explosive British grand prix.
"I can get less out of them than Romain on a (single) flying lap," he is quoted by Agencia Estado.
"In the race it's less of a problem because you're not so much at the limit of the car, but when you have started down the grid, it's too late to attack the leaders."
The 2007 world champion said Pirelli's clamping down on the tires' operating guidelines also hurt him.
"They increased the limits for camber and tire pressure," Raikkonen explained. "So there's not much you can do about it.
"Before we had more freedom," he added.
Kimi Raikkonen has pointed to Pirelli's reversion to 2012-specification tires, and the tightening of the operating guidelines, as the reason he has fallen off the pace at recent grands prix.
The Finn denied that his impending switch to Ferrari might explain why teammate Romain Grosjean appears to have moved ahead inside the Lotus team.
Told there is an obvious link between Raikkonen's drop in pace and his 2014 move to Ferrari, teammate Grosjean insisted: "It may look like it, but there is no direct link.
"Ok, it's my chance to prove that I can lead the team, but from my side it was all about just taking one step at a time," the on-form Frenchman told Die Welt newspaper.
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| Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus E21 (Photo: WRi2) |
Raikkonen, meanwhile, pointed to the tires, whose specification was changed by Pirelli in the wake of the explosive British grand prix.
"I can get less out of them than Romain on a (single) flying lap," he is quoted by Agencia Estado.
"In the race it's less of a problem because you're not so much at the limit of the car, but when you have started down the grid, it's too late to attack the leaders."
The 2007 world champion said Pirelli's clamping down on the tires' operating guidelines also hurt him.
"They increased the limits for camber and tire pressure," Raikkonen explained. "So there's not much you can do about it.
"Before we had more freedom," he added.