Raikkonen says Ferrari's reality is not so negative

Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen said on Thursday things have not been so bad for Ferrari despite it not winning in the last three Formula 1 races.

Raikkonen said that in order to assess his team's performance fans have to look at the whole year's results, not just the Belgian, Italian and Singaporean Grand Prix events where Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes prevailed, reports Efe news agency.

"Obviously the race (at Singapore) didn't go that way but I don't see why you would look at everything so negative. It's your question, obviously," Raikkonen said at a press conference ahead of the Malaysia Grand Prix.

He explained that his teammate Sebastian Vettel had taken pole position in Singapore, while he came in fourth place in the qualifying and said: "so, if you purely compare to Mercedes, it was better."

Raikkonen said that the championship was "up and down (...) In the end the whole season is one season and in the end wherever the points are, are the best. It's pointless to look at one race here, one race there. It's over the whole year."

The 37-year-old Raikkonen is fifth in the 2017 drivers' standings with 138 points, while Vettel is in the second spot with 235 points, 28 behind leader Hamilton.

Mercedes also has the upper hand in the constructors' championship with 475 points, ahead of Ferrari (373 points).

--IANS

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