That is the claim of Pedro de la Rosa, who in 2006 was the famous Finn’s race teammate at McLaren just before Raikkonen – now 32 – switched to Ferrari and won the world championship.

The so-called ‘iceman’ has been out of F1 for two years and on his comeback in Australia last week dropped the ball with a miserable qualifying performance.

It has emerged Raikkonen came into the pits to change the tint of his helmet visor, and could not get back out for a crucial final qualifying run.

According to Helsingin Sanomat newspaper, Raikkonen described the incident as “a little f*ck up”, and a day later had to be reminded on the radio about the meaning of blue flags.

De la Rosa, however – who was a mere spectator in Melbourne after failing to qualify with HRT – said Sunday in Australia was “a fantastic race performance by Kimi”.

“Kimi is a phenomenal talent and definitely one of the best drivers I have ever seen,” the Spaniard is quoted by another Finnish newspaper, Turun Sanomat.

“Kimi and his team (Lotus) look really competitive. My guess is that they will be the biggest surprise of the season,” added de la Rosa.

F1-Zone