Finn finishes third after starting 13th on the grid at Marina Bay
Monday 23 September 2013 09:33, UK
Kimi Raikkonen shrugged off a back problem to storm through the field in the Singapore Grand Prix - but the Finn said afterwards that the pain of retirement feels worse.
Yet as impressive as Raikkonen's performance was, it didn't tell the entire story from Lotus's point of view. Team-mate Romain Grosjean was another driver to pit under the Safety Car and, placed right behind Alonso at the restart, the Frenchman was on course for the final podium spot. However, Grosjean, who had qualified a strong third, suffered bad luck when an air consumption problem on his car eventually forced his retirement. "It was an air leak," Lotus Trackside Operations Director Alan Permane confirmed. "The air valve system caused an internal leak in the engine. As a desperate attempt we tried to fill it up, but it just got worse. "Romain would have been third without the problem."
