Ferrari strategy costing Raikkonen - Hakkinen

Mika Hakkinen believes only Ferrari strategy has prevented his fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen from winning a grand prix in a solid start to the 2018 Formula 1 season. Raikkonen placed n the podium in Australia and China, having suffered a calamitous DNF in the pits at Bahrain.

Raikkonen has delivered impressive pace throughout the season, regularly topping timesheets in practice and qualifying sessions.

He and Lewis Hamilton lost out to Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel in Australia, before a pit-stop failure in Sakhir caused the Iceman to retire.

Once again Raikkonen delivered impressive pace in China, although Ferrari appeared to use him as a rolling roadblock in an attempt to back Valtteri Bottas into Vettel after the Mercedes man had pulled off a spectacular undercut.

Thanks to Max Verstappen's collision with Vettel, Raikkonen turned a likely fifth-place finish into another podium and Hakkinen spoke glowingly of the veteran's performances this year.

"Kimi Raikkonen had another strong weekend in China, and it looks very much that the Ferrari car and tyres in 2018 really suit his driving style," Hakkinen wrote for Unibet.

"Like Valtteri, Kimi prefers a car to have a good front end; by which I mean a car that really turns into corners positively rather than understeering.

"When he has a car that suits his style, Kimi naturally feels more comfortable and therefore able to maximise the performance.

"He can attack in a very positive way, and then the lap times come down and the results start to come.

"He is pushing Vettel hard, and if the Ferrari strategy had been handled a little differently I think he could have won a race already this year."