Tag Archives: Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen says that this week’s confirmation that he will stay at Ferrari won’t change his approach.

In recent months the Finn has had to deal with endless speculation about his future in the Maranello team, while the management made it clear that he had to keep getting the job done.

“It doesn’t change anything,” he said today. “I mean we still try to do the same as every other race. So, that contract thing, it’s not going to change our approach for the weekend or the end result. Hopefully the end result will be good but no, we will do the same things as in all the other races. So, hopefully we can have a good weekend, no problems and see where we end up.”

Regarding his longer-term aims he said: “Well, obviously it is the same as every year – we want to do as well as we can and hopefully challenge for championships for next year and I’m sure we can produce even a quite bit better car than this year next year. Obviously the team is all working well together and we all feel very good and obviously I’m happy to stay there but we have to try to do a good second part of the year and maximise what we have and then prepare for next year.”

He added: “Obviously we want more wins, me and the team, but I’ve had good years, difficult years, some up and downs but I always enjoy it, always enjoy it more when things are going more nicely when you get results but as a team, I’ve had a great time there and I’m very pleased that we can be working together next year again.

“As a team, as they are now, I really feel that we are going in the right direction and we can do great things in the future. People are more happy, we are more happy when we can do better results. Obviously you write less negative things after that. We keep working and believe in what we’re doing so I’m sure we will get there and we will have many happy days in front of us, and a lot of good results.”

Kimi Raikkonen’s manager Steve Robertson says everything is moving in the right direction for the Finn to extend his Ferrari contract.

Raikkonen, who last year hinted that 2015 might be his last season, is now committed to a longer term future with the team – and just has to wait for the Maranello outfit to take up its option.

“Everybody’s positive,” Robertson told this writer. “Kimi wants to carry on and he’s made that very, very clear. The team is happy with his input and his consistency. It’s all positive talk, but there’s a difference between positive talk and pen to paper and all that sort of stuff. But at the end of the day it’s all heading in the right direction. He wants to be part of it, 100 per cent.”

Raikkonen has been upbeat since his first run in the SF15-T hinted at the potential of the package, and he works well with close pal Sebastian Vettel. Robertson agrees that the key is Kimi is having fun again.

“As soon as he had the first test he said, ‘The car’s a good car, there’s a lot more potential there, they took a big step in the chassis and a big step in the engine. He’s enjoying driving. At the end of the day for Kimi it’s very important that he enjoys it, he doesn’t need to be here for any other reason. He wants to be competitive, he wants to be challenging for races wins and championships, and now he’s in the position to do that.

“It’s a completely different team, it’s a completely different package. Everything is positive. Last year it was difficult to find something positive. He enjoys the car, it suits his driving style more, he’s in a team that’s on the upward trend. Everybody is pushing. Just look around at all the smiling faces, and Kimi’s one of those smiling faces.

“He loves F1 when it’s like this – of course he doesn’t love F1 when everything’s a shit fight and the car’s not good. He loves the environment like it is, and the package, and he can only see it getting stronger.”

Kimi Raikkonen says that the new Ferrari is a big step forward from the car with which the team finished last season.

The Finn was second fastest today after running a reliable 92 laps.

“It was a positive first day, a lot of improvements in areas where we had difficulties,” he said. “And obviously it’s just a first day, and unfortunately the weather was pretty bad today. Somehow the circuit stayed damp for most of the day, but I think we had good running and we got some mileage. A big thanks to the team who built us a reasonably good starting point. It was a good first day.

“The whole package is quite a bit better than how we finished last year. Now we’ve improved in all areas. It’s just the first day, the first day, and there are a lot of things to do, and a lot of things to try and improve, but it’s definitely a positive start and we have something to work with.

“It’s too early to speak about results. Like I said we had a good, positive first day, and Sebastian had a good couple of days. There’s a good team. We;ll try to do our best, and I’m sure if we keep doing our work as a team we’ll push forward as a team with two cars, improving things, we can get some good results. What it will be, time will tell. We definitely going in the right direction, for sure, that’s the good thing. We’ll have to wait and see in the races.”

Asked by this writer about having close pal Vettel as a team mate he said: “We have a good relationship and I think we can push the team forward, and obviously try to beat each other on the circuit. I’m sure we”ll have some fun. The atmosphere in the team is already very good, and hopefully we’ll get some good results this year that will help the situation. So far, so good, but it’s early days.”

Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed one of his most encouraging weekends of 2014 in Brazil, eventually finishing seventh after a two-stop strategy helped him to move up from 10th on the grid.

In the latter part of the race the Finn held off Fernando Alonso, who was on fresher tyres, for several laps.

“Obviously we didn’t know how the tyres would last, because we didn’t really have the long runs,” said Raikkonen. “I think for sure we could have had one place better, we had some problem in the pit stop, but it was OK. If we would plan it before the race we would probably have stretched the first one and the second one a little bit, but it worked out OK like this.

Asked when the two-stop call was made he said: “During the second stint really, because the tyres seemed to last pretty well. Obviously then you can usually can run a bit longer, even the last one, because the circuit gets better. We had some issues on the pit stop but overall we did a good job with it, and it was the right decision. If we knew what we know now we could have planned it a bit better, but we didn’t have experience enough, but we did the best that we could.”

Raikkonen said that a shorter final stint might have kept him ahead of Alonso: “Probably yes, but it’s the same points for the team. In the end with this kind of circuit it makes no really big difference for myself and for the team, because it’s the same points.”

Kimi said that the team is making progress after a he’s struggled for a year to get the front end of the car to his liking.

“I think over the whole weekend the car has been more kind of normal, and I could drive it more normally. It’s been definitely better and the tyres lasted pretty well. It’s been going in the right way. So still work to be done, quite a bit, as a package, but we know that.

“Obviously every circuit is different, it depends on tyres and how the car works on a specific circuit, but it’s been a good feeling the whole weekend. So I expect we definitely made improvements, we understand things a bit better. I might be wrong but I expect we should be more comfortable in the next race.”