|
Today,
Kimi Räikkönen answered some questions in the FIA press
conference ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona. The Finn
spoke about his memories on the Circuit de Catalunya as well as
his expectations for the forthcoming race.
Question:
Kimi, what does it mean for you to be leading the championship at
this time of the year, coming here for the start of the European
season?
Kimi:
Of course it’s nice but the season is only a few races old. It
is a long way to go and it doesn’t help if you are leading now
and you can’t keep it up and lead when it really matters. But so
far it has been pretty okay. It could have been better at the
start of the season but we are leading in the points, so I need to
be happy.
Question:
You won here in 2005 but it hasn’t been a fantastic circuit for
you this one, has it?
Kimi:
No, last year we didn’t finish. I think we only did nine laps in
the race. I can’t remember all the things that have happened
here but usually they are not very good results. It can turn
around. Hopefully this year we can be strong and finish the race
at least. We will see how it goes tomorrow.
Question:
How do you feel about the modifications made to your car since
Bahrain?
Kimi:
I don’t really have a clear picture about it. I did four or five
laps in the dry and it was a bit damp. The team is happy how we
improved the car and we brought some new parts and they seem to
work. It should be better. I tried the new front on a few laps on
intermediates, so we will see how it goes over the weekend, how
the car goes. It should be better than it was in previous races.
Question:
So tomorrow will be a real discovery for you in comparison?
Kimi:
I have been here before in dry conditions and every time you
improve the car it should make it better. We have some work to do
but I think for sure we can be fast here.
Question:
Kimi, how do you see the hierarchy between Ferrari, McLaren and
BMW? Is the fight between the two of you or is BMW also a
threat now?
Kimi:
I mean they were second best in the last race, so for sure they
are there. I think it all depends from race to race. If you look
at the last couple of races they are very similar and we are a
little bit ahead of them. I don’t know how it is going to be
here. We need to wait and see really but it is going to be close
between all the three teams.
Question:
Can you imagine, during your career, racing two hundred and sixty
GPs or will you be fed up with the PR etc before that point?
Kimi:
What, whether I will do two hundred and sixty something races? I
don’t even know how many I have now but probably not.
Question:
After the test here there was a lot of discussion about the coming
ban of tyre warming blankets. A lot of series don’t have
tyre-warming blankets and have pit stops. Is that going to be a
problem for F1, to have this ban?
Kimi:
I haven’t run the tyres at all, so I don’t really have any
idea how it will be but I heard that, as Rubens and everybody else
said, it’s going to be very difficult, so I’m not really in
the right place to say. But if it’s purely for saving money,
it’s the wrong place to save money. It’s not much and they are
going to spend the same money somewhere else anyhow, so…
Question:
Kimi, do you agree with Montezemolo when he says it might not be
good for Ferrari to have Fernando Alonso as your team-mate?
Kimi:
(Laughs) It’s better that I don’t say anything.
|