With three weeks to go until Scuderia Ferrari will officially launch the car for the 2017 Formula 1 season, Kimi Raikkonen has suggested that there is no point in speculating who will come out on top once the season begins, as it is almost impossible for F1 teams to find out the latest updates and know what their rivals are doing. What is certain is the fact that cars will be wider, with wider wings and a larger diffuser to produce much more downforce. They will also have a bigger tyre footprint, with Pirelli’s new rubber roughly 25% wider than the tyres used during the previous championship:
“We will know once we get the new cars and hit the track as obviously there’s a lot of rule changes so we have to wait and see. It’s pointless to speculate with such a big change, so hopefully we are where we want to be and deserve to be.” – Kimi said, as reported by Autosport.
Looking back at the 2016 Formula 1 season, the Finnish driver added: “It was far from an ideal year from all of us but this is how racing goes sometimes. It does not matter if it’s better or not the end result is obviously far from what we as Ferrari, as a team, wanted. We had some good races and others not so good. There were too many small issues but that’s what happens in racing sometimes.”
However, Kimi is confident the new season and the major regulations changes which will be introduced can help Ferrari achieve its goals for 2017: “There are for sure positive things like how we have been working lately and doing things. We all work well together, even if the results are not maybe what we always want. But I see a lot of good things from the team and obviously in 2017 hopefully we are where we want to be. Obviously it would be a lot more fun for all of us.” – Kimi Raikkonen concluded.
