Raikkonen blames power cut for lack of Friday running

Alfa Romeo had an unusual reason for a lack of running on Friday in Singapore, after Kimi Raikkonen revealed that a loss of electrical power in the team's garage hampered their programme in FP1.

Raikkonen was 14th in first practice, which Max Verstappen led, but he completed only 13 laps – team mate Antonio Giovinazzi putting down just 15 – as teams averaged 22 laps in the session. Only Charles Leclerc, who had to retire his Ferrari, had fewer laps under his belt.

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But Alfa Romeo’s lack of running wasn’t down to reliability, or a collision (as it was in Valtteri Bottas’s case,) as Raikkonen explained.

“I don’t know exactly the issue but we lost power in the whole garage,” said the Finn. “Everything went down, so we couldn’t do anything. It took an awfully long time to figure it out and get it back up and running.

“We didn’t manage to do many laps in the morning, which was a shame.”

In FP2, Raikkonen completed 28 laps under the lights as Alfa Romeo wasted no time trying to get back on schedule, and he finished the session 16th. However, the former champion said there’s still “quite a bit of work to be done” as the team ready themselves for qualifying on Saturday.

With a history of strong finishes in Singapore – including a podium for Lotus in 2013 and another for Ferrari in 2015 – Raikkonen knows the Marina Bay Street Circuit well. And having missed the points in Italy last time out, the Iceman will be keen to add to his 2019 tally of 31 on Sunday.