No complaints from Raikkonen as he pays the price for Q3 error

Kimi Raikkonen was looking set for one of his best qualifying positions of 2019 in Alfa Romeo’s home race at Monza. That was until he got it all wrong at the Parabolica on his first Q3 run. Afterwards, the Finn admitted he had no one but himself to blame.

Parabolica was the subject of much attention on Saturday, with sausage kerbing in the run-off area being removed following a high-speed crash in the morning’s F3 race. But Raikkonen said his error was purely of his own making.

“I don’t think it’s anything to do with the track,” he commented. “Obviously I made a mistake and I paid a price for it. That’s how it should be.”

That mistake means Raikkonen will start Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix from 10th on the grid, with team mate Antonio Giovinazzi immediately behind him, the Italian having been bumped out of Q2 – by Raikkonen – by just 0.002s.

However, given that he backed his C38 into the barriers, there will be fears that potential gearbox damage could yet lead to a penalty and a drop down the starting order.

“Obviously it’s far from ideal for tomorrow, but we’ll see,” added Raikkonen of his race prospects. “Hopefully if it’s a bit mixed up it gives us a chance.”

Raikkonen’s shunt brought out the red flags, which in turn led to the chaotic end to qualifying, with the majority of drivers failing to cross the line in time to start their final Q3 runs. The former world champion, though, had little sympathy for his rivals.

“I’m not interested, really,” he shrugged. “I was not involved.”