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Kimi
Raikkonen has pledged his future to Ferrari, regardless of whether
or not the manufacturer enters Formula 1 next season.
Following
today's decision by the French legal authorites to refuse
Ferrari's bid for an injunction against the voluntary budget cap
for the 2010 season, the team's future in the sport is uncertain.
The Maranello outfit has said it will not lodge an entry for next
year unless the rules are changed, and the deadline for
applications for the 2010 world championship is in just nine days
time. Speaking at Monaco today, Raikkonen said he would prefer to
race for Ferrari in a different championship than for another team
in F1.
"I
am pretty sure that we are not going to disappear from F1,"
he said. "But I don't know, but I cannot be 100 per cent sure.
I will still have a contract with them and they are racing in many
different categories, so I think they will find something for me.
I work for Ferrari and we are one big family. It is my work and it
is the place where I want to race. Whatever they do, I will do the
same with them. We are one family and we do things together."
The
Finn believes that losing the major manufacturers from F1 would be
a huge blow to the sport. "For me, if Ferrari is not in F1
nor any other big team like BMW or McLaren, it is not good for F1.
They are the teams that make F1 and if you change the teams for
other teams, new teams that come from GP2 or somewhere else, then
it is not the same any more. F1 for me is all about the big teams,
we race together and try to be the best. That is my opinion, but
everybody has their own ideas."
Red
Bull Racing's Mark Webber also said today that he does not think
F1 would be the same sport without Ferrari. "I hope the sport
is in reasonable shape next year in terms of teams competing,"
said Webber. "There's a lot of water to go under the bridge
yet and some serious egos involved, so we'll see. "When asked
how important Ferrari is to F1, he said: "They are F1. The
red car has to be on the Formula 1 grid."
Question
and Answer with Kimi:
Question:
We've seen the car is much quicker now, so what can we expect in
Monaco?
Kimi: It was definitely better in Spain. We made a step
forward but this race is always a little bit different compared to
normal circuits. I think we will do the best we can and see how it
goes tomorrow. It is too difficult to say where we are going to be.
Question:
Ferrari is going to use KERS this weekend. How helpful can it be
in Monte Carlo?
Kimi:
It should be helpful, otherwise we wouldn't have put it on the car.
It is the same story as at other circuits we have been using it,
but maybe it is not as big a help here as it was compared to the
last race.
Question:
How would you describe the mood inside Ferrari at the moment?
Kimi:
It is as good as before. Of course, when you have not such good
results as you want, it is always not as good a spirit as normal
because everybody wants to win and wants to push hard - so
sometimes there is a bit of tension. But, overall, the people are
the same. It is the same kind of work and we want to get back
where we should be.
Question:
And what about yourself? Do you feel 100 per cent comfortable?
Kimi:
Yes. There is no reason why I shouldn't. The things are the same
for me as they were before.
Question:
So what about the rumours that Fernando Alonso is replacing you?
Kimi:
I've always said the same answer. I don't even need to say it
again - we can wait until next year and then we will find out. I
know what I am going to do, so I cannot even be bothered to talk
about all those stories. So you can decide yourself and then we
will wait and see what happens.
Question:
The courts in Paris rejected the injunction attempt by Ferrari.
What is your personal opinion about this situation for F1 and
Ferrari?
Kimi:
For me, first of all, it is not good for F1 on any side to have
this sort of thing going on. For me, if Ferrari is not in F1 nor
any other big team like BMW or McLaren, it is not good for F1.
They are the teams that make F1 and if you change the teams for
other teams, new teams that come from GP2 or somewhere else, then
it is not the same any more. For me, I am 100 per cent behind the team and whatever they choose to
do, I will go with them. Hopefully everything will get sorted out,
but I am not the guy there working closely with them, so you need
to ask the team for all the details – and probably also the FIA.
Question:
Do you feel more a Ferrari driver or an F1 driver in this moment?
Kimi:
I work for Ferrari and we are one big family. So it is my work and
it is the place where I want to race. Whatever they do, I will do
the same with them. We are one family and we do things together.
Question:
If you in the future are just a spectator of F1, would you go to
the races and spend 500 Euros on a race with small teams competing?
Kimi:
Like I said before, F1 for me is all about the big teams. We race
together and try to be the best. That is my opinion, but everybody
has their own ideas – and probably when I stop in F1 I will not
come to races anyhow. I will stop when I have had enough and then
I will have no interest to come and see it.
Question:
The car was quite good at Barcelona but because of strategy
problems and reliability the result was not so good. How
frustrating was that?
Kimi:
Of course it was even more disappointing because we saw the car
was fast and we could not get the results we wanted. That is how
it goes in racing, but at least we know we have made the first
step forward. We still have work to do, but we are coming back and
that is always nice – even if we didn't get the results we
wanted.
Question:
Is there too much pressure on Ferrari for making mistakes?
Kimi:
Probably it doesn't help, but like I said we made some silly
mistakes, we will try to learn from them and try to make sure we
don't repeat those things. Unfortunately sometimes it happens, but
we will get it right – although it is taking longer than we want.
Question:
Jenson Button has won four grands prix. Is he unbeatable, and who
could beat Brawn GP?
Kimi:
There can be many drivers who can do it, but of course they look
very strong right now. I am sure there will be other teams winning
races later this season, but with all the different rules people
have, and different situations with cars, they definitely are
ahead of people right now. We could see already at the last race
that it is getting closer again.
Question:
They say there is no margin for error in Monaco, so where can you
make a difference?
Kimi:
You make the laptime around every corner, so you need to be fast
in every place. The most important thing is to get the car right
and then just build up the speed – but you need to have a strong
qualifying and it is pretty difficult. Usually you get stuck
behind people and can only follow them and unless something goes
wrong you cannot do anything to use your own speed.
Question:
Last week you were in Maranello for an important technical meeting
and to analyse the performance of the car, and mistakes. How was
the meeting?
Kimi:
It wasn't what you are thinking. I was there, but it wasn't the
reasons that people were talking about – it was just a normal
visit I decided to do there. By many different things it happened
to be at the same time, so it is normal that we go over sometimes
and see people and go through things, what we did in the past
races. We just analyse and try to improve.
Question:
Ferrari has said it will maybe not participate in F1 next year,
and you are doing a rally next week. If they retire from F1, will
you split immediately to rallying?
Kimi:
I am pretty sure that we are not going to disappear from F1. But I
don't know, but I cannot be 100 per cent sure. For sure they will
find something to do for me, I will still have a contract with
them – and they are racing in many different categories. So, I
think they will find something for me.
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