Kimi unhappy with 'mistake'

Raikkonen: mistake

All race I could not see anything

Kimi Raikkonen
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Kimi Raikkonen claims the FIA forgot to tell Ferrari that they had to start the Japanese Grand Prix on full wet weather tyres should the Safety Car be deployed.

However, the Finn also admitted that the Scuderia got their setup wrong as they were anticipating a dry race.

Both Raikkonen and team-mate Felipe Massa started on intermediate wet tyres - contrary to the stipulation of FIA race director Charlie Whiting that all drivers should use full wets in the sodden conditions.

This forced the Ferrari duo to pit and change their tyres, consequently sending them spiralling down the field.

Recovery

And, after recovering to finish a narrow third behind Renault's Heikki Kovalainen - thus keeping his slim title hopes alive - Raikkonen said that Ferrari had not received word that extreme wets should be used.

"We made a decision to start on intermediates, it started to rain a bit behind the safety car but that wasn't really the issue, it was more for me to see anything," he said.

"After the race I heard there were some rules to force everyone to start on full wets but the FIA or race control forgot to tell our team. That forced us to pit behind the safety car. It cost us but not a lot. All race I could not see anything.

"Then I tried to overtake Heikki (Kovalainen). Actually I got past him but went too fast and he got past me back. The biggest problem was to see the circuit and the cars. At least we got something out of it.

"I aquaplaned off a few times but I kept coming back. We had the car set up for the dry so it was not perfect for the wet. I thought we had a good car. If you are in front it is much easier. We could have gone faster. We lost points to Lewis (Hamilton) again but we could not do much after that first pitstop."