Raikkonen won’t change first lap tactics

Kimi Raikkonen feels there is no need to alter his first lap tactics despite a difficult run of races struggling to gain positions on the opening lap, while he looks to attack from the second row of the grid at the British Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver narrowly lost out to teammate Sebastian Vettel and pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton in the Q3 shootout but starts ahead of the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas to set up a good opportunity to battle against the front two.

Raikkonen almost produced the perfect start from third place last week at the Austrian Grand Prix, diving down the middle of the two Mercedes starting on the front row, but eventually lost out before losing a further place to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

With the Dutch driver’s overtake on Raikkonen proving pivotal to the race once both Mercedes cars dropped out, the Finnish driver is eager to produce a strong start but doesn’t feel he needs to alter his approach.

“I think the last start I did take risks,” Raikkonen said. “I’m not going to do any different.

“Obviously we try to make the best possible start and do as well as we can, but there are things you will never be able to plan.

“You do it what you think it’s right and the outcome might be different from what you’re expecting. But that’s how it goes. We’ll try to make a good start and then we try to see what we can come up with.”

Raikkonen has failed to gain a position during any of the opening laps so far this season leading to criticisms of his driving and his Ferrari place coming under threat.

The Finn, who ended up taking second place in Austria last week, moved up to third place in the Formula 1 drivers’ world championship thanks to back-to-back podiums.