Lotus driver Kimi Räikkönen has admitted that the Enstone-based outfit ‘could have done better’ over the course of this year's pre-season tests, with further technical issues hindering his final day behind the wheel at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Räikkönen was hoping to recover lost track time on Sunday after falling ill with suspected food poisoning earlier in the week, but an unscheduled gearbox change severely delayed the Finn's programme and restricted his running to 50 laps.
"We could have probably done better over the winter, but hopefully we won’t have a hard time in the first races," Räikkönen told reporters in Barcelona, including GPUpdate.net. "Today, we again had some problems. It hasn’t been going the best on that side. But I think the issues we had were quite minor."
Räikkönen went on to discuss the high levels of tyre degradation experienced at the final Barcelona test, stating that there could be a few surprises at the Australian Grand Prix if the situation stays as it is.
"It’s very difficult to say what will happen in warm conditions, because we don’t have the experience," he added. "Let’s hope it’s not going to be as difficult as in the winter tests. But if it stays like this, we might see some surprises in Melbourne."
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| Pos. | Driver | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  N. Rosberg | 01:20.130 | 131 |
| 2. | F. Alonso | 01:20.494 | 120 |
| 3. | J. Button | 01:21.444 | 122 |
| 4. | N. Hulkenberg | 01:21.541 | 118 |
| 5. | K. Raikkonen | 01:21.658 | 50 |
| 6. | P. di Resta | 01:21.664 | 112 |
| 7. | P. Maldonado | 01:22.415 | 42 |
| 8. | S. Vettel | 01:22.514 | 100 |
| 9. | V. Bottas | 01:22.524 | 31 |
| 10. | C. Pic | 01:23.115 | 116 |
| Full results | |||
| Kimi Räikkönen | |||
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| More Kimi Räikkönen photos | |||
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