SPIELBERG, Austria -- Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne has called on Kimi Raikkonen to show "a higher level of commitment" to the team's championship challenge in 2017.
While teammate Sebastian Vettel leads the championship by 20 points, Raikkonen lingers a distant third, with just two podiums and one podium to his name this season. He had to settle for fifth in Austria, behind Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, as Ferrari lost a further nine points in the constructors' championship.
Marchionne has issued the 2007 world champion, whose contract is up at the end of the year, a warning about his form.
"I think Kimi has got to show a higher level of commitment to the process," Marchionne told reports in the paddock ahead of the race. "There are days when I think he's a bit of a laggard, but we'll see. I am going to talk to him today, we'll see what happens."
After the race, which saw Raikkonen drop behind Daniel Ricciardo on the opening lap and then lose fourth position to Lewis Hamilton through strategy, the Finn admitted he needs to pick up his performances.
"Obviously I want to do well. My team wants to do well. I can only do the best that I can. Unfortunately it's not been very straightforward sometimes, but that's part of F1. We keep pushing and I'm sure things will get better."
Some questioned Ferrari's strategy during the grand prix, with Raikkonen kept out after Lewis Hamilton made a surprising early stop for ultra-stop tyres in attempt to make the undercut work. Raikkonen's elongated opening stint saw him emerged well down on Hamilton, though he said Ferrari had no option once Hamilton and Mercedes had made their stop.
"I think we had pretty OK speed at that point, so I don't think [staying out] really changed an awful lot. We were planning to come in the next lap after Hamilton stopped, but I think they realised that they might have jumped us already. Obviously then you have a decision either to stay out or drop behind him, so that's what we chose to do."