For the third time in 2021, Kimi Raikkonen finished in P11 as the 2007 World Champion just missed out on finishing in the points, finishing only 2.4s behind Yuki Tsunoda when the chequered flag fell at the end of 71 laps around the Red Bull Ring. 

From 18th on the grid, the Finnish driver took full advantage of the mess that occurred on the opening lap to gain five places. He was stuck in a DRS train in the first stint but briefly ran as high as P6 after starting on the hard tyres. 

He rejoined in 13th following his only stop of the race and overtook teammate Giovinazzi and Vettel in the closing stages.  

Asked about his race, the 41-year-old declared he had decent speed and they tried the best they could.  

''Yeah, but again a bit too short [on pace],'' said Raikkonen. 

''We’re one place out of the points... so not ideal, but we tried the best we could. I think we had decent speed but it wasn’t enough today.'' 

Raikkonen believes Alfa Romeo need to improve the car a bit if they want to be scoring or fighting for points on a consistent basis.  

The Finn admits he needs to up his game in qualifying as well after a Q1 elimination yesterday at the Red Bull Ring. It was a topic MotorLat.com brought up with Raikkonen before the French Grand Prix weekend.   

''We need to make the car a bit faster,'' he said.  

''Obviously it would help if I’m better off on Saturdays and I do better qualifyings. 

''But like today I think we gained a lot of places in the first lap... so hard to really say that will guarantee us to be in the points.  

''It would help but I think we need to just get a bit more speed out of the car.''

When asked by MotorLat.com, Xevi Pujolar confirmed in his post-race media session that Raikkonen did not sustain damage following a close call with Leclerc during the race.