Kimi Raikkonen has raised questions over the changes made to the Yas Marina Circuit after his first day of practice in Abu Dhabi ended with a trip to the barriers. Alfa Romeo driver Raikkonen lost control of his car through the new, faster Turn 14 as FP2 came to a close, initially sliding into the wall rearwards and then making secondary front-end contact - causing plenty of damage in the process. Amid a host of other modifications at the venue , the retiring Raikkonen has suggested that following other cars could now be more challenging, picking out the high-speed Turn 9 hairpin (which used to be a chicane) as one example. "They took one of the good overtaking opportunities at Turn 9 away," Raikkonen argued after practice. "It is good to make a change, but it should have been a lot slower corner, because when it is a faster corner, it is very difficult to overtake. "Sometimes, you wonder what they think when they do the changes, but it's what it is - it's different."
A "normal Friday" until the crash
Raikkonen ended the day in 16th position, three-tenths and four places behind teammate Antonio Giovinazzi, who will also leave F1 at the end of the season to embark on a new chapter in Formula E. Raikkonen explained that, the late crash aside, his Friday programme went to plan. "It had been a normal Friday until the last lap," he commented. "We had finished nearly all our work when I had my accident. I just lost the rear in a place where there wasn't any run-off and went into the wall - these things happen."
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