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In
the Thursday's FIA Press Conference ahead of the Italian Grand
Prix in Monza, Kimi Räikkönen answered questions about his
feelings about his first race in front of the Ferrari home crowd
and his expectations he placed in it.
Question:
Kimi, obviously you are going to be racing in front of a Ferrari
home crowd for the first time; what are you feelings about that?
Kimi:
I think it is a bit more hectic this weekend because it is a home
Grand Prix for the team but I don’t think the racing side of
things changes at all because we always try to do the best that we
can and that’s why we come here.
Question:
Now you have set the fastest time in qualifying for the last time
two years though you didn’t necessarily start from pole and that
must make you quite confident for this weekend?
Kimi:
Yes, I like this circuit, but it’s difficult to get the car
right as you run on a low down-force and it is quite bumpy and you
need to be able to drive over the kerbs… It is difficult to say
where we are going to be, but hopefully we are going to be in a
grid position to fight for a win.
Question:
Felipe believes that you, Ferrrai, are better than they appeared
to be in testing last week?
Kimi:
I don’t know, really, because from testing it is always
difficult to say – you can only guess what fuel the other teams
have, but you only really know yourselves what you are doing. I
was not 100 per cent happy with the car, but we found some reasons
and hopefully we will have a better set up and we’ll see where
we are. I think we should be ok – probably not our strongest
race, but it should still be pretty good.
Question:
Kimi, from your perspective, how much influence and benefit has
Michael Schumacher been to the team?
Kimi:
It is difficult to say for sure, really, he has a lot of
experience with the team and in Formula One, also, but I don’t
know actually how much he has done, because I don’t really ask
them who is doing what and who is responsible on which days… You
have to ask from the team…
Question:
Kimi, I am curious to know – there have been a few times this
year, and it happened again in Turkey, you have made a mistake in
qualifying at a critical moment and as you said the next day, it
has gone on to cost you… What has happened in those situations?
Kimi:
I just got it wrong, that’s all. The tyres are a bit tricky when
you really push as we were able to last year when they were good
for more than one lap. I think they are more difficult now and if
you push too much you can lose it. We are still looking to find
the ideal set-up for qualifying, but for the race we usually have
a very good car. Unfortunately, qualifying is very important this
year, so if you don’t get it right it is very difficult to
improve your position in the race. I think we have been looking
into it and tried to change it a bit the way we do the qualifying
and hopefully we can improve.
Question:
Kimi, what are your feelings regarding the fresh evidence that has
surfaced from the FIA with regard to the ‘spy case’ that is
going to be heard next week?
Kimi:
I don’t know anything about that story. The feeling in the team
is good and of course we would rather be in first place in both
world championships, but there is a good atmosphere and it is a
great team to work with. I don’t think it affects our racing
side at all but of course it is not nice to be asked all the time
about it and it in the news all the time, but that is part of
racing. In the team, we have a good atmosphere and feeling.
Question:
Kimi, going back to the spying thing, have either of you been
asked by the FIA for any information given that you Giancarlo were
Fernando’s team-mate and you Kimi were at McLaren?
Kimi:
Absolutely, no.
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