We have discussed Kimi’s problems with qualifying at length and even Kimi would suggest that this is the biggest issue he faces.Â
“I don’t want to deny that the last races didn’t go as I wanted, every time something strange happened and we didn’t manage to find the best possible set up for the car. We tried to find a good compromise, but it didn’t help. We’ve got to solve that problem now for the upcoming race at Valencia.
“The qualifying was the decisive moment also at Budapest, in a negative way. In my second try in Q3 I couldn’t keep the car on the track: that was my fault.
“You can’t pretend to win the title if you’re always starting from the sixth position. You can even drive one second faster per lap than the one ahead of you, but if you start from behind you can’t use the pace you’ve got.
“At the Hungaroring I was stuck behind Alonso, who had a really good car for the last sector, which was maybe the only point I could have tried to overtake. Again I had confirmed that it’s impossible to overtake at Budapest.
So is it tires? Car weight and balance issues? Just why is Kimi struggling now? He is the current world champion but the old saying goes, you’re not truly a world champion unless you can defend the title, rings true and perhaps Kimi’s motivation is starting to bubble to the surface.
