Raikkonen needs time to hit the top

14th February 2010

By Richard Rodgers

Citroen team chief Olivier Quesnel reckons it will take Kimi Raikkonen until the end of the season before he can become a frontrunner in the World Rally Championship.

Raikkonen lost out on a possible points finish on Rally Sweden after getting stuck in a snow bank for almost 30 minutes on the opening day of the event. He recovered on day two, setting a top-six time, and survived a trip into a snow bank on Sunday’s second stage.

“Kimi is learning and the media has to be patient with him,” said Quesnel. “It will take a long time for him to be at the top and we won’t know until the end of the year if he is to be good in rallying. But he has been good in Formula One and I know he is determined to succeed.”

Raikkonen said: “This has not been an easy rally but I have learned the car and got some experience.”