NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Raikkonen not bothered by criticism

Kimi Raikkonen says he is not bothered that many are beginning to regard him as the 'number 2' at Ferrari.

Kimi Raikkonen says he is not bothered that many are beginning to regard him as the 'number 2' at Ferrari.

At the team's Finale Mondiali event at Mugello, the Finn insisted that the Maranello team no longer operates a policy of driver inequality.

Nonetheless, German Vettel is now regarded by many as the de-facto lead driver.

"I don't care what people think," Raikkonen told Germany's Auto Bild. "It's only important that I know what I'm doing.

"Sebastian and I have similar ideas about how to work together and improve the car, and that's more important than what people say."

And according to Spain's El Confidencial, Raikkonen is not even concerned that, based on his performances, there has been criticism that Ferrari re-signed him for 2016.

"I'm doing well, otherwise I would not be in F1 -- there is no charity here," the 36-year-old said.

"Yes, I'm disappointed because many things have not gone well for me, but it has been better for me than last year was and I am sure we can improve more next year," Raikkonen added.

(GMM)