Kimi Raikkonen says he was condemned to a low-key fifth place 𒁏finish after qualifying as he had no way past Valtteri Bottas unless his Mercedes rival made “bigger mistakes” in the closing stages of the Singapor✱e Grand Prix.

Raikkonen finished where he qualified in Singapore in an underwhelming race for the𝓰 Finn stuck behind fellow countryman Bottas for the maj♛ority of the race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Raikkonen, who confirmed his switch from Ferrari to Alfa Romeo Sauber for 2019 during the build-up to the Singaꦜpore round, says given the tri♐cky nature of overtaking at the tight and twisty street track despite all the pressure he placed on Bottas he was unable to find a clear route past given his Ferrari’s poor handling when following closely behind the Mercedes.

“I think he had a few lock ups kust enough for me to get very close but not enough,” Raikkonen said. “I could see he was starting to struggle with hi🤪s right front tyre a bit but that didn’t slow him down enough. Once I would get closer to him I would lose a𓄧 lot of traction.

“There were a few mistakes, but we 𝄹nee☂ded a little bigger mistakes to have a run on him.

“It was trick𝐆y because every time I would get close to him I would lose traction out of the corners and he’d get the jump. So I never really got a good run on him. We needed a little bit more laps and 🍷then I think he would struggle more.”

Raikkonen’s🔜 fifth place marks his first non-rostrum finish when reaching the chequered flag since the Canadian Grand Prix – having retired from last month’s Belgian Grand Prix – and enabled Bottas to close up to three points behind him in the fight for third place in the Fo๊rmula 1 world drivers’ standings.