Mikko Hirvonen has said that Kimi Raikkonen could have become successful in the World Rally Championship.

Hirvonen, three times a runner up in the championship, told Finnish television broadcaster MTV3 that his compatriot could have worked his way to the top.

“Over years, maybe.” He said, “I have been talking with Kimi’s engineers and they said he was as fast as top drivers. It was not about his driving skills but more about making pace notes.”

Hirvonen, who joins Citroen this season, was asked about whether he would be using Raikkonen’s old car and gave a cheeky reply.

“Were any of them left unbroken?”, he said laughing.

Raikkonen’s best finish in the WRC was 5th, although he won a stage of Rally Deutschland in 2010.

F1-Zone