Raikkonen says second start clutch was in incorrect place and Ferrari went into anti-stall as he dropped from second to last at the lights
Thursday 10 September 2015 10:46, UK
Kimi Raikkonen doesn't think he did anything differently at the start of the Italian GP after his hopes of a podium at Ferrari's home race were wrecked by a disastrous start.
Starting on the front-row for the first time in two years, Raikkonen was left stranded on the line when the lights went out after his SF15-T went into anti-stall. Swamped by the pack, the Finn got going but ended the opening lap third from last, although eventually recovered to fifth at the chequered flag in an impressive recovery drive.
But with his chance of challenging Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and his Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel scuppered within a second of the race starting, Raikkonen was puzzled as to why the start procedure didn't work.
"It went into anti-stall when I let the first clutch go and as far as I understood I did the correct things," Raikkonen explained.
"But we can see a problem in the second clutch and it was not in the correct place, even though I'm pretty sure I put everything correct as always. I don't know exactly, but whatever it was it triggered the anti-stall and after a few seconds I was in last place."
Since last month's Belgian GP drivers have had more control over their start settings with radio communications banned about bite points from the moment drivers leave the pit lane on Sunday.
Asked whether he had put the second clutch in the wrong place, or it had slipped, Raikkonen replied: "On the data it's slightly in the correct place, but from what I do always I did the same thing, so I cannot explain why.
"There are only a few small chances why it could be, but whatever the reason is we understand it correctly, 100%, and make sure that if we have to make changes we do the right things."
Having rounded the first chicane in last place, Raikkonen pulled off a string of overtaking moves to race back into the top five, but nonetheless couldn't hide his disappointment at the lost opportunity.
"The race was okay to finish fifth but when you start in second place and end up in last place in the first corner it's not ideal," he said.
"So that's a bit disappointing but we have to learn about that and hopefully get better results."
