Kimi Räikkönen says he is not thinking about his chances of fighting for the world title after claiming an emphatic victory in Sunday afternoon’s Australian Grand Prix, insisting that the result does not change Lotus’ approach to the rest of the season.
The Finn made a two-stop strategy work to overcome his nearest rivals who were forced to pit on three occasions due to tyre degradation, taking the chequered flag ahead of Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel to win 'one of his easiest' races.
"That was our plan before the race," Räikkönen said of his two-stop approach. "I was pretty confident the tyres would be okay and we have had a good car all weekend. I thought it should be easy to do it. I made a good start and it all went well.
"It was one of the easiest races I have done to win. Hopefully we can have many more of these races. The car has been very good all weekend and it was a pretty nice way to start the year."
Moving on to discuss his early title lead, Räikkönen refused to read too much into the situation and insists that he will not be distracted ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix next weekend.
"It feels good, but it’s only after one race," Räikkönen added, having picked up his second win since returning. "It doesn’t really change our game or work for this year. We're happy with the win, but there's a lot still to do to try to win the championship."
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Kimi Räikkönen
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 1:30:03.225 |
| 2. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +12.451 |
| 3. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +22.346 |
| 4. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +33.577 |
| 5. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | +45.561 |
| 6. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +46.800 |
| 7. | A. Sutil | Force India | +1:05.068 |
| 8. | P. di Resta | Force India | +1:08.449 |
| 9. | J. Button | McLaren | +1:21.630 |
| 10. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | +1:22.759 |
| Full results | |||
| Kimi Räikkönen | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| More Kimi Räikkönen photos | |||
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