2017 United States GP: Kimi Raikkonen reaction and impressions after P3. Kimi's view at the end of the race.

Scuderia Ferrari Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen had a positive race at the at the Circuit of the Americas in Elroy, Texas, finishing the 2017 United States Grand Prix in third place, after overtaking Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas:

“My car worked very well through the whole race. I was very pleased, it was so good and nice to drive. I felt we had a lot of speed and the tires lasted very well until the end. I’m sure that if we had started from the qualifying position we deserved, our pace would have been enough to get us a much better result. We kept gaining ground whenever I could push, which was a very good feeling. In the last part of the race I could have gone a lot faster, but I also had to manage fuel, so I slowed down my pace and this was a limiting factor. The final result could have been better, but we have two cars on the podium, so we cannot be too disappointed. For the next race we will try to be even stronger.” – Kimi said, as reported by the Italian media at the end of the race.

Kimi Raikkonen also revealed that he didn’t know why Max Verstappen was penalised following the US Grand Prix. Verstappen overtook Raikkonen on the final lap but was deemed to have cut Turn 17 in the process, which saw him being handed a 5-second time penalty. Kimi was then ushered to the podium room after believing that he had finished the race in fourth place. Speaking after the Grand Prix, the Iceman said he was confused over why he was brought to the podium room, not knowing Verstappen had been penalised: “I have no idea what happened with Verstappen or why he got the penalty,” said Raikkonen. “I had no idea what happened to him apart from he got past me at the second-last corner. Obviously I was disappointed just after the race when I thought I had finished fourth but there was some issue with Max. I got to go on the podium but didn’t see it, I don’t know where he went.”

The 2007 Formula One world champion recorded his fifth podium finish of the season, which tips him over the four he racked up in 2016. The 37-year-old admitted that he was taken by surprise when he saw the Dutchman sailing past on the inside of Turn 17: “Obviously I was half surprised. I saw him in my mirror and tried to slow down the whole thing before, the previous corners, and I thought I had enough covering on the corner, and then suddenly he was there. I saw in my mirror and I was a bit surprised, at that speed – I was a bit pissed off he got past me.” – Scuderia Ferrari’s Finnish driver concluded.