Raikkonen: Blaming F1 team-mate Vettel for 2018 errors pointless
Kimi Raikkonen believes it is "pointless" for critics to analyse his Ferrari Formula 1 team-mate Sebastian Vettel's season and blame him for mistakes that have been made
Vettel went toe-to-toe with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton in the first half of the year but has won just once since crashing out of the lead of the German Grand Prix on slicks in the rain in July.
The eight-race period since then has featured several high-profile errors, including a first-lap spin from contact with Hamilton in Italy.
Speaking exclusively to Autosport at Austin last weekend, before Vettel went on to suffer another first-lap spin to weaken his already faint title hopes further, Raikkonen said it is too easy to judge incidents on hindsight.
"I don't know if he made a lot of mistakes," said Raikkonen. "Germany he went off, but then it was pretty tricky conditions.
"I don't know if that really dictates what happened in the end result. It's hard to say.
"There is always people trying to point finger here and there or [say] 'This is why he didn't win'.
"You know, if you want to point [a] finger on someone, there is millions of things that you can [say] 'ah, he should have done this like that and the end result would be different'.
"But afterwards it is very easy to always say that.
"You take 10 years backwards you can point 'oh, you should have done that differently and you would have won'.
"It's pointless."
Vettel's mistake in the United States could have let Hamilton wrap up the F1 title but he fought back to fourth, while Raikkonen ended a 113-race win drought out front as Hamilton had to settle for third.
Hamilton is still poised to clinch a fifth championship, meaning Ferrari's wait for a title goes on and Raikkonen will stand as its last world champion for at least one more season.
"I don't really think about it," said the 2007 title winner.
"So maybe one day, whenever I stop, and then you start thinking 'I am happy to be world champion with the Ferrari'.
"But I am not really think that 'ah, yeah, I am actually the last one'.
"People say it, but that's how it played out so far. We'll see what happens this year and next year."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Alpine F1 sale rumours emerge amid key Renault demand
Mercedes protege Antonelli set for maiden F1 test
Aston Martin makes offer to poach Newey from F1 rival Red Bull
The contrasting fortunes of F1's big-name moves to Ferrari
The many surprise driver cameos of the 2023 NASCAR Cup season
Raikkonen "got unlucky" with COTA chaos on NASCAR return
The pointed note that starts Ferrari's Leclerc vs Sainz era
Albon: No point 'wallowing about' over lost Red Bull F1 place
The small change that will be F1 2021's big talking point
Alpine gets F1 spare car for first time in 2024 as lighter chassis appears in China
F1 Chinese GP: Stroll leads FP1 as small fire causes early red flag
Live: F1 Chinese GP updates – FP1 & Sprint qualifying
How real-time scrutineering ensures fair and consistent competition in motorsport
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments