Kimi Raikkonen says a power unit issue in Q3 meant he had to settle for sixth on the grid as Ferrari faltered again in qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix.
Ferrari had looked strong in FP3 on Saturday morning, before Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel went second and fourth respectively in Q1. The team dropped off the pace after that as both drivers failed to unlock the full pace advantage on the super-soft tyres in Q2 and Q3, with Vettel saying the team should have had a car on the front row.
Raikkonen feels his grid position is not a fair reflection of pace, with the engine issue in Q3 forcing him to abort his final run.
"I felt my car was definitively better [than sixth] today, our qualifying lap times were better today," he said. "Q1 was pretty OK, straightaway, we struggled a bit in Q2 to get the tyres to where we wanted them. The soft tyre worked pretty OK but I lost a bit in the last corners. Then, in Q1, the first lap was pretty decent, but I felt I lost time in a few places.
"Then I had an odd feeling in the last run, we had some issue with power in the last set of tyres and could never use them. I feel there was a lot of lap time that we never got, because we didn't use the second set of tyres. It was a bit of a struggle because I took it a bit easy in the first run of Q3, so I think the position we are in doesn't show the lap time we could achieve. It was just unfortunate that it went like that.
Raikkonen says he takes little comfort in out-qualifying teammate Vettel, who had to settle for seventh, due to the fact they will both start lower than expected.
"Not really important for me. When we are 6th and 7th... If we would be fighting at the front ... Right now I don't feel it gives anything, we struggled with the issue. I thought the car was pretty decent but with the small problem we had I couldn't run and it cost us quite a few places. But this is how it is today and we have to go forward. Tomorrow I think we can be much stronger."
A small comfort for Ferrari will be the fact both drivers made it through Q2 on the soft tyre, meaning they will start on a more durable compound to the Red Bull drivers and Nico Hulkenberg ahead.