© FIA

Kimi was again guest in the FIA press conference after the Qualifying of the Japanese Grand Prix in Fuji. The Finn spoke about his problems with the car in the qualifying and what that means for tomorrows race.

Question: Kimi, we saw you have a couple of moments in the wet – what was the Ferrari like in those conditions?

Kimi: It was OK actually, not too bad. We touched the kerbs a few times but it didn’t really affect the lap times. I had traffic on the last lap and needed to back off. Anyhow, we had a small problem with the gearbox, so for sure we can fix it for tomorrow. I think we can be in good shape – we don’t know what kind of weather we’re going to have tomorrow, but it’s the same for everybody, so we should have a good car for any kind of weather conditions.

Question: Ferrari was less competitive on Friday afternoon than they appeared to be in the morning perhaps with set-up changes – you weren’t able to verify that with the loss of the session on Saturday morning, so how does that place you for the race?

Kimi: I think we are pretty close to Friday morning, so it should be OK. The circuit is going to be different after the rain for the race tomorrow, so we’ll wait and see. I’m confident that we’ll have a good car in the race and it’s going to be a tight race with all four cars.

Question: Kimi, going into a wet Q1 was a bit of a surprise for everybody but more so for you because you didn’t get out at all this morning.

Kimi: Yes, we were a bit too slow out of the box… or not too slow but they closed the circuit so quickly that we didn’t even manage to get into the pit lane. But I think one out lap wouldn’t have made much difference. It was OK. The car felt good. Of course the first few laps are always a bit about finding the lines and it gets better when you do more laps but it was good.

Question: You mentioned a gearbox problem just now.

Kimi: Yeah, we had a sensor problem, so we lost the fast shift, so it cost time. There was nothing that we could do during qualifying but we can probably fix it for tomorrow.

Question: Do you think you might have been in amongst the McLarens?

Kimi: I don’t know. For sure it helps when you have that working but the car felt pretty OK in the last session. I was pretty happy. I only got one lap really and that was good enough for third place. I think the times are very close, so maybe it would have made a difference, maybe not, but anyhow we are in a good position for tomorrow.

Question: Kimi, would you prefer to have a dry race or a wet race tomorrow?

Kimi: It’s the same for all the teams, all the drivers, so it doesn’t really make any difference. It would be nice to have it dry or wet, not really in between. There’s a bit more luck involved then. I don’t know. Anything really.

Question: Did it dry out at all during that session, were the conditions pretty stable?

Kimi: There were some little dry places but not really completely.

Question: Now that you’ve driven this track, what are the differences, both from the driving point of view and the car set-up point of view between what you’ve experienced and what you and the teams anticipated before you got here?

Kimi: OK, it’s a new place and a new challenge but I think it’s been going quite smoothly. We knew the circuit a little bit from having a look before and it’s been good.

Question: Kimi, do you think that first corner is more decisive than usual?

Kimi: I don’t think so. It’s not any different to normal. It’s going to be quite tight but the last race it was a very tight corner, so I don’t think it’s going to decide any more than any other circuit.

Question: Considering the long straight, are the pit stops less important here than in other races, that you can overtake more, or is it not going to change much?

Kimi: I don’t think it changes much. It’s a different time at every circuit. For sure there are optimum laps which is the best to (stop) but I don’t think here it is very crucial compared to other places.

Question: Speaking of overtaking, besides turn one, what are the other overtaking points here do you think?

Kimi: I think we will find out tomorrow. Hopefully there are more. I think turn ten but other places are probably very difficult.