Raikkonen questions track changes after practice crash

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."