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Kimi
Raikkonen was extremely satisfied when he left China, after the
two races in the Far East. "I was really happy on Sunday
night: we couldn't get the maximum in China and Japan, but we
showed that we were able to win both of the races, which was very
important in view of the race in Brazil," said Kimi.
"The situation seemed to be compromised after the race at
Fuji, but in Shanghai we managed to put things straight. Now we
have new hope to win the title and it's good to know that we can
go to Sao Paulo and try our luck."
"It
would have been better if also Alonso would have not made it, but
Hamilton's retirement, his first in this season, was very
important. It has been since the race at the Nürburgring, when I
had to stop with a hydraulic problem, that we didn't control the
championship. We have to go on working the way we did at the last
two races. We have to give our best to try to have another double
win. We do have the possibility, as you could see. If we manage to
do the same at Interlagos everything depends on what our
competitors can do.
"Before
the race Kimi was convinced that Ferrari could be competitive at
Shanghai: "Since the first laps on Friday I knew that the car
went really well under any weather conditions. We just needed to
find the right setup for this kind of situation we had ahead of us:
we checked on the weather forecast and we were well prepared. We
knew that we would be behind in the first part of the race, but
then we were able to up our game, once the track was dry. In the
end it was exactly like that."
"We
didn't get the pole although I had a very quick lap in Q3.
Hamilton had less fuel in his car so it was much easier for him.
At the start of the race, I had a lot of understeer but then the
situation improved and I managed to pick up on Hamilton. Due to
the yellow flags I had to wait a bit before I could pass him. I
had to slow down a couple of times in some corners, when I was
right next to him. There was no point in pressing too hard and
throwing it all away. When the yellow flags were gone he took one
corner slightly too wide and I benefited from this situation."
"Later
I just had to remain concentrated and bring home the victory. At
the end I was asked if that was the most beautiful victory with
Ferrari: undeniably it was a very difficult one; the first one on
a wet track; and it was really a great feeling. It could have been
even better if there hadn't been the bitter aftertaste from what
had happened at Fuji, with the rules handed out by the FIA without
us having been informed."
Kimi
didn't hide his satisfaction that he is back in the title race:
"We're back in the fight. After the one in 2003, when I came
to Suzuka with nine points behind Michael, this is the second time
that I will play it in the last race. Now I'm seven points behind
Hamilton and three behind Alonso. Anything can happen in the race.
There are more possibilities to pick up on Alonso. In China it was
the 200th victory in a GP for Ferrari: I played only a small part
in this great history, but I'm very proud to be a part of this
legendary team. 200 wins show how strong Ferrari really is."
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