Raikkonen fears fuel limit takes fun out of F1

Kimi Raikkonen says Formula 1’s ongoing fuel limit takes part of the enjoyment out of racing with the need for conservation which had been compounded by 2018’s heavier cars.

With the introduction of the Halo cockpit protector for the 2018 F1 season, the minimum weight of F1 cars has been raised to 734kg but the fuel limit has been kept at 105kg of fuel per race (without exceeding the fuel flow rate of 100kg/hour).

Despite the current F1 technical regulations encouraging faster and more efficient cars, the added weight has had a major impact on drivers having to manage fuel usage depending on circuit characteristic.

With the Albert Park street circuit known to be highly-demanding on fuel, Ferrari’s Raikkonen is bracing for a strict fuel management for the 2018 F1 season opener and is concerned it denies drivers the chance to push their cars to the maximum.

“Obviously some races are more difficult than others and it depends between the teams and all kinds of conditions,” Raikkonen said. “It’s not always fun.

“We have enough size in the fuel tanks to put in more fuel to go full speed, but that’s the rules and it’s been like that for a while.

“It’s a part of the game now and it’s a bit more painful in some places than others.”

Raikkonen has been supported by Toro Rosso Honda’s Pierre Gasly who is also expecting tough fuel control for the Australian Grand Prix due to the added weight of the cars without any additional fuel compared to 2017.

“Consumption I think is going to be a big issue for everyone and at the moment we don’t really know how bad it is for the others,” Gasly said. “We know how it is on our side but I think its going to be an issue for all the guys on the grid.

“Apparently Melbourne is going to be a really tough track on fuel consumption, I’ve never raced here before but that is what the guys have told us, it’s going to be something quite important to manage.

“I must say, it is not something I like, having to lift off at the end of the straights and at the extreme case it can be pretty bad.”

Despite his shared concerns, Raikkonen accepts it is part of the F1 regulations and hopes his Ferrari team can be the best to manage the challenge to profit against its rivals.

“There are always changes and I think it’s normal every year,” he said. “Obviously we learned from previous years and try to do things better. It’s a never-ending story, really, it’s evolving the new car we try to fix all the other things.

“There’s never going to be perfect things, always somewhere to improve. If you win and finish one-two, we always found things we could have done better so it’s never-ending story, unfortunately.”