© Autosport

Kimi Raikkonen reckons his crash during the Australian Grand Prix cost him the chance to finish second in the race. The Finn lost the rear end of his Ferrari on lap 44 and ended up making contact with the wall.

He was forced to pit for the third time and lost any chance of a good result after dropping to 16th. Raikkonen later retired with a differential problem.

"It was my mistake to hit the wall, it was just sudden but I spun. Looking afterwards we would probably have finished second, and it is a shame," said Raikkonen. "I went as normal as always in the corner, and then suddenly I just completely lost the rear. Probably it was my mistake. I wouldn't put it to anything else, but it is funny how there was no warning. Usually you feel something if there is a bit of wheel spin but it just went and there was nothing I could do. I just tried to avoid the wall, but I couldn't."

He added: "It was a shame as we could probably have finished second in the end, but the speed on hard tyres - Kubica was pulling away a little bit, but then I think he did the fastest lap, so I haven't had time to see at all what the others were doing. For sure we still have work to do, but this circuit is not normal compared to other normal circuit we have seen. We have had a hard time here before and then it is okay when we go to normal circuits. Hopefully that will turn out to be the same this year."

Ferrari failed to score any points after Felipe Massa also retired from the race, dominated by the Brawn GP team, with Jenson Button leading team-mate Rubens Barrichello to a one-two finish. Raikkonen reckons catching the British team will depend a lot on the outcome of the appeal lodged over the design of its diffuser.

"We will see how is it in the next race," said the Finn. "It all depends on the rules, what the rules are going to be in the future, there are a lot of question marks about what you are allowed to do and what not. So let's wait and see.

Question & Answer with Kimi:

Q. What happened in the race?

Kimi Raikkonen: It was my mistake to hit the wall, it was just sudden but I spun. Looking afterwards we would probably have finished second, and it is a shame.

Q. And for the championship it is a very bad start?

KR: Yes, but there is not much you can do. We try to do better at the next race but definitely one of the hardest races I have done in a while.

Q. What do you think about the challenge of Brawn Grand Prix?

KR: I haven't seen their laptimes but it looks like they won it pretty easily. This circuit is different compared to the others. We sometimes see that we have a hard time here but when we go to more normal circuit it seems to turn out pretty okay. Let's wait and see until the next race, and see what we can do and then make more decisions. It is a shame that I went off. We lost some valuable points, but that is racing.

Q. Brawn GP won without KERS. How did you find it?

KR: It worked well at the start. There was just no space to go as I got a good start, but there were too many cars in front so I could not use it. Like I said before, we would not use it if it was not a help for us so it was working okay.

Q. Could you explain to us the strategy about using the softer tyres at the beginning when it was hotter?

KR: Well, because we have difficulties with the hard tyres to get them working. In that kind of case, we need to wait and wait and not push - so it was going to be difficult. When we go out from the pit lane with the new tyres it is going to be okay, but for us for sure it was a better choice to take the soft tyre.

Q. How was the performance, as you said after qualifying you thought your race pace would be better?

KR: I don't have a really clear picture. I haven't seen the lap times that everybody was doing, as I was behind (Robert) Kubica and he was pulling away a little bit. But I think he was pretty fast any how. I don't know where we are on speed, I haven't had time to look, but for sure we are not where we want to be. We still have some work to do but we will see what we can do at the next races.

Q. When you spun did you have a problem with the differential, or was it after that?

KR: I don't know. I hit the wall quite hard after I spun, so I just suddenly lost the rear end and it is tricky with those tyres. I don't know – it was probably my mistake. It is just a shame.

Q. Massa said on Saturday that the championship could be finished quite early with the pace of the Ross Brawn. What do you say about that?

KR: I don't know. It is only one race, so let's see what happens.

Q. Chris Dyer thought something might have broken at the back of your car. What happened there?

KR: I don't know. I went as normal as always in the corner, and then suddenly I just completely lost the rear. Probably it was my mistake. I wouldn't put it to anything else, but it is funny how there was no warning. Usually you feel something if there is a bit of wheel spin but it just went and there was nothing I could do. I just tried to avoid the wall, but I couldn't.

Q. How was the pace otherwise?

KR: It was a shame as we could probably have finished second in the end, but the speed on hard tyres – Kubica was pulling away a little bit, but then I think he did the fastest lap, so I haven't had time to see at all what the others were doing. For sure we still have work to do, but this circuit is not normal compared to other normal circuit we have seen. We have had a hard time here before and then it is okay when we go to normal circuits. Hopefully that will turn out to be the same this year.

Q. How were the tyres working?

KR: Both tyres were quite difficult. The soft is pretty good from the beginning but then it goes away a lot, and the hard one is quite tricky. You lose the grip sometimes and it is not easy to use for us. Like I said, it was for sure a difficult race – it taught us a lot but maybe it is going to be different when we go to normal circuits like Malaysia.

Q. How do you see Brawn GP?

KR: If they are 1-2 in qualifying and 1-2 in the race then they are pretty strong – but we saw that already in testing, so it is not a surprise.

Q. How long will it take to catch them?

KR: We will see how is it in the next race. It all depends on the rules, what the rules are going to be in the future, there are a lot of question marks about what you are allowed to do and what not. So let's wait and see.