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Kimi blames Ferrari for quali blunder

BUDAPEST, Hungary - Kimi Raikkonen told Ferrari to get its act together after a qualifying gaffe by his team left him languishing down the start grid for the 2014 Hungarian GP on Saturday (July 26).

Raikkonen has a great record at the Hungaroring, finishing second the previous two years with Lotus and winning for McLaren back in 2005.

His chances of getting back on the podium during Sunday's race took a huge hit however when he failed to get out of the first phase of qualifying after the team assured him he had done enough to do so. He will start 16th.

‘MISTAKE MADE’

He said: "The plan was to go out but the team said 'no, you are fine, you do not need to go out'. I questioned it a few times but they said 'no need', We can see the end result.

"A mistake has been made. It's already been a difficult year, so I don't see the point to shout. The mistake is done."

Raikkonen, who returned to Ferrari in 2014 in what was supposed to be a dream-team of champions with Fernando Alonso, who has had a miserable year. He has so far failed to finish higher than seventh from 10 races and scored a mere 19 points to his double champion team mate's 97.

To make matters worse, he was out-qualified by Marussia's Jules Bianchi - a Ferrari young-driver academy graduate in a Ferrari-powered car and a driver with a steadily growing reputation.

Bianchi has been talked about in paddock gossip as a possible replacement for Raikkonen, even if Raikkonen has a contract for next season and is adamant that he is not going anywhere.

NOT ‘EASY TIMES’

Raikkonen said: "People make mistakes, but there are things we have to change to improve. As a team in F1, as Ferrari, we should not be doing such things. None of us is in our first year. These are not easy times.

"Obviously we have to improve, to do things differently. We can see there are weaknesses in the system. That's how it goes."

Raikkonen said that, despite the setback, he still had trust in the team and Ferrari technical head Pat Fry said he expected him to come out fighting on Sunday (July 27).

Fry said: "Unfortunately, with Kimi, we were caught out by the evolution of the track. It's very disappointing not to have got through with him because he's been going better this weekend.

"Clearly, on Sunday, he will be on the attack."

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix:
Qualifying
First practice
Second practice
Third practice

Stay with Wheels24 for the 2014 Hungarian GP this weekend.
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