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| © Charles Coates/LAT Photographic/Lotus |
Kimi Raikkonen’s championship campaign was boosted at the German Grand Prix on Sunday after he was elevated to third place in the race.
The Finn benefitted from the penalty incurred by Sebastian Vettel to register his fourth podium finish of the year and moved up to fourth in the drivers’ championship.
But the Lotus driver reckons that he was severely handicapped by his qualifying position as he was caught up between other cars at the start and consequently lost time.
"It's nice to have another podium, but obviously we would rather get it on the track," Raikkonen said. "We did the best we could from the position we started.
“Maybe if we had found a bit more pace in the wet (in qualifying) we could have started higher and pushed the leaders, but it is what it is,” he added.
Teammate Romain Grosjean, on the other hand, failed to score any points and dropped to eighth in the standings.
The Frenchman, who was on the back foot from the outset after the grid penalty, was bumped into on the opening lap forcing him to pit for repairs.
“By the time I managed to get back to the pits the race was as good as over,” said Grosjean who gained just a single position from 19th on the starting grid by the end of the Grand Prix.