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Kimi Raikkonen: ‘I was struggling’ | Top Gear

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"It's been a difficult year for the team," explains Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. "As Ferrari, we expect to be at the front, winning races and fighting for championships."

A pause. "We were pretty far away from that this year, so there's an awful lot of work to be done."

Putting it lightly, perhaps, when you consider the Scuderia's 2014 Formula One season didn't exactly set the world on fire. Ferrari finished fourth in the constructors' championship this year, 104 points adrift of third-placed Williams, 189 behind second-placed Red Bull, and a whopping 485 points behind champions Mercedes.

But it was Kimi's performance that garnered some unwanted headlines. With a 12th placed finish in the drivers' championship, it was Kimi's worst ever performance in his 13-year F1 career. With just 55 points to his name, he was 106 points behind his 2014 team mate Fernando Alonso, who ended up finishing sixth overall.

"There are many reasons [for finishing so far behind Alonso]," he says with a shrug, "but the end result is always the same. It was a difficult year in many areas, and like I said if you're fighting for anything less than the championship it's not a very good year. As a team we had a very bad year.

"Myself... I was struggling more, but there's no point to go into the details too much," he added. "Obviously we have to work hard in the coming years to improve and put Ferrari at the front where it should be."

The laconic Finn reckons that now, Ferrari have "the right people to build a good car and a good package," and that the team needs to stick together more to create the unity he believes was evident "some years ago".

"Will [next year's car] be good enough to fight for the championship?" he said, "only time will tell. Like we've seen, Mercedes had a pretty good advantage this year, so it's not easy to catch up. The future will be bright, but it will take some time."

What about the impending arrival of quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel, to replace Alonso as his team mate? Kimi isn't worried. Plus, they're mates anyway.

"It will be interesting," he says. "What we had before as a friendship... I don't see why that should change.

"We will try to push Ferrari together to where it should be, and try to beat other on the way. I think we can have some fun too," he added.

Roll on 2015...

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"It's been a difficult year for the team," explains Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. "As Ferrari, we expect to be at the front, winning races and fighting for championships."

A pause. "We were pretty far away from that this year, so there's an awful lot of work to be done."

Putting it lightly, perhaps, when you consider the Scuderia's 2014 Formula One season didn't exactly set the world on fire. Ferrari finished fourth in the constructors' championship this year, 104 points adrift of third-placed Williams, 189 behind second-placed Red Bull, and a whopping 485 points behind champions Mercedes.

But it was Kimi's performance that garnered some unwanted headlines. With a 12th placed finish in the drivers' championship, it was Kimi's worst ever performance in his 13-year F1 career. With just 55 points to his name, he was 106 points behind his 2014 team mate Fernando Alonso, who ended up finishing sixth overall.

"There are many reasons [for finishing so far behind Alonso]," he says with a shrug, "but the end result is always the same. It was a difficult year in many areas, and like I said if you're fighting for anything less than the championship it's not a very good year. As a team we had a very bad year.

"Myself... I was struggling more, but there's no point to go into the details too much," he added. "Obviously we have to work hard in the coming years to improve and put Ferrari at the front where it should be."

The laconic Finn reckons that now, Ferrari have "the right people to build a good car and a good package," and that the team needs to stick together more to create the unity he believes was evident "some years ago".

"Will [next year's car] be good enough to fight for the championship?" he said, "only time will tell. Like we've seen, Mercedes had a pretty good advantage this year, so it's not easy to catch up. The future will be bright, but it will take some time."

What about the impending arrival of quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel, to replace Alonso as his team mate? Kimi isn't worried. Plus, they're mates anyway.

"It will be interesting," he says. "What we had before as a friendship... I don't see why that should change.

"We will try to push Ferrari together to where it should be, and try to beat other on the way. I think we can have some fun too," he added.

Roll on 2015...

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TG.com chats to the Iceman as he reflects on his racing season, and partnering Vettel