Kimi spends his holiday in Tallinn.
Kimi Räikkönen and three of his friends arrived at 10.30 this morning to Tallinn to have spend the weekend.
-I don't want to talk about races or Kanerva right now.
[Kanerva is the finnish foreign minister. He is in the middle of scandal because he has maded advances to an erotic dancer.] Right now I'm at holiday and sun shines in Tallinn. We some of our shared friends here, Kimi told in the VIP area of the raft.
-But isn't it better that people talk about something than that they would talk about anything at all, Kimi commented the scandal.
Räikkönen turned the conversation to ice hockey and praised Tappara of Tampere and Blues of Espoo.
-Espoo is doing good rise and one day it will come, the sunny and smiling man stated and asked to have privacy.
Source: iltalehti
Translated by Lady Feanor
3/30/2008 11:21:00 a.m.
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By Steven English
This year's Bahrain Grand Prix will celebrate Ferrari's 60th anniversary as a Formula One and sportscar constructor with a display of cars from the marque's history in the circuit's F1 Village.
The Sakhir circuit's CEO Martin Whitaker said: "There are very few motor manufacturers with the panache and heritage of Ferrari.
"Scuderia Ferrari is one of the biggest sporting brands in the world, with 60 years of achievement in Formula One and sportscar racing, and we are delighted to have this feast of iconic cars on display at our Grand Prix."
More at autosport
3/29/2008 10:32:00 a.m.
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CHRISTOPHER CLAREY: Heikki, I know you just did a book on Kimi in Finland. The feeling among the general sports public is that he's bland (your one book vs Hamilton's dozens would offer support for that). Is that perception fair or unfair?
HEIKKI KULTA: My book is mainly built on my stories for my daily. There are some things about his childhood and youth that explain a little bit how Kimi has been all his life. He is not the most colorful guy, not even as a Finnish sport star, but he is honest and always says what he thinks. That is something that a bland guy would do, wouldn't he?
CHRISTOPHER CLAREY: Candor does not usually equal bland in my experience.
HEIKKI KULTA: That's what I mean. F1 is so political that it is unusual that you can survive with candor.
CHRISTOPHER CLAREY: So why has he survived?
JOE SAWARD: Speed forgives all...I think Kimi is very clever. He appears to be dull so as to avoid having to do too much press work. I suspect that he is a very interesting guy, but he does not want the world to know that...
BRAD SPURGEON: That's the reason I say I like Kimi. He is quite funny when you pierce the armor. But that's a major undertaking!
CHRISTOPHER CLAREY: I wonder if, being competitive, it bothers Kimi that Hamilton finishes second and still hogs the international headlines. Tennis players and golfers are sensitive to that.
JOE SAWARD: I don't think he cares about any of that stuff. He cares about driving cars fast and winning. End of story.
BRAD SPURGEON: True. Raikkonen, like it or not, has been very, very fast, and very close to the title for years. 2003, 2005, second each time, now 2007, he gets it. The guy we don't hear that much about, but who delivers.
HEIKKI KULTA: Kimi's motivation with McLaren was going down. It was the Ferrari offer that kept Kimi racing. With Ferrari he has things as he wants them to be. It is a two-way street there. Both sides get what they expect from each other.
Source: iltalehti
Translated by Lady Feanor
3/28/2008 11:46:00 a.m.
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F1-tähti Kimi Räikkösen uusin piilopirtti sijaitsee suomalaisten suosimassa Thaimaan Phuketissa. – Olen todella ilahtunut mahdollisuudesta omistaa yksityinen merenrantakoti Phuketissa. Kun minulle ehdotettiin ideaa, olin heti vaikuttunut sen paikasta ja designista, Kimi kertoo.
Chalongin lahden perukoilla sijaitseva Serenity Terraces Resort -kompleksi on vielä rakenteilla.
– Odotan innolla mahdollisuutta viettää harvoja lomiani poissa radalta tässä piilopaikassa, Räikkönen myös kommentoi.
Aivan täydellisenä rauha ei tule pysymään, sillä alueen viereen on rakenteilla muun muassa viiden tähden For Seasons -hotelli.
Tällä kaudella noin 35 miljoonaa euroa tienaava Kimi maksoi uudesta reilun 350-neliöisen rantatalostaan huikeat 664 000 euroa. Mies hakee paikasta rauhaa, eikä Serenity Terraces -talonyhtiö sijaitsekaan huikeimpien bilepaikkojen välittömässä läheisyydessä, vaan 17 kilometrin päässä keskustasta Karon Beachin lähellä, mutta niemen toisella puolella.
Resort on täynnä luksusta: talokompleksi tarjoaa asukeilleen niin oman ravintolan ja baarin, uima-altaat, kuntosalin kuin liki 30-metrisen luksusjahdin.
Ei ole vaikeaa arvailla, miksi Kimi on paikkaan niin ihastunut: välitön luonnon läheisyys ja upeat maisemat ovat osa viehätystä, mutta myös se, että itse asiassa talot ja sisustus muistuttavat paljon Kimin ja Jenni-vaimon Helsingin Kaskisaaren asuntoa. Myös avara olohuone sekä parvi ovat hyvin samantyyppisiä.
Muun muassa Dubaista ja Suomessa Porkkalan nimellä myös asunnot omistava Kimi haluaa lomillaan luksusta, mutta myös tavallista elämää. Suomessa hän viihtyy hyvin paikallisissa baareissa, kavereidensa metsämökeillä ja onpa mies bongattu lomailemasta myös Kanariansaarilta ja Leviltä!
3/27/2008 07:58:00 a.m.
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3/26/2008 07:13:00 p.m.
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The Speed is there.
Obviously, it was great to win again. I've got a really nice feeling while flying back home after the race on Sunday. The race was run exactly according to our plan. While we didn't have any problems, the speed is there. No doubt about that. Our car is strong enough to take, and to keep the first place.
It should have been enough already in Australia, but that was one of those weekends while nothing works as you want. Again in Malaysia, the Friday was not ours. We had run out of fuel just as we started to work. We lost the first session, but of course it was just our own fault. It had nothing to do with the car.
The qualifying result could have been better. But like I always say, it does not matter afterwards. Only the result counts. The race however, was next to perfect and we did not have a single problem from the start to the finish line.
I had a good start and would have really fought for position on the limit, and I would have probably taken the lead. Obviously with Felipe, we knew eachother's fuel levels and it would not have made sense to start pushing against my teammate. I just let it be and decided to wait for the pit stop.
It's pretty difficult to keep close behind following the leading car. But I had to keep close enough, while we had just one lap to take the lead after Felipe pitted. I can tell you it's a huge difference when you can go flat out on an empty track ahead with clean air. Without looking at the numbers, I think the car was half a second quicker while I was out there alone.
I managed to overtake Felipe as we planned, then when something happened to him and he suddenly disappeared from my mirrors, I knew that we were going to win that race if there are no problems occuring with us too.
It was an easy victory. We just took it really easy and saved the car and engine for the next race. I could have gone much faster, but there wasn't any need for that.
I won my first ever Grand Prix in Malaysia too. As I remember, it was also pretty easy back then five years ago too. It just shows that when the car is working well, Sepang seems to suit me well.
I was asked if we started our season in Malaysia, rather than in Australia. This was not the case. We already had one point from Melbourne. We have been there in the fight with the others since race one. That one point is good to have.
The boys at Ferrari really know how to take these things. We did not panic after the first bad race in Australia and now after Malaysia there is no way we will start thinking too much of ourselves.
This is going to be a very tight battle all year long. As I said before the first race, this season is very long. Now we have just started, and nobody can say what happens next.
Obviously, we have a winning car. While everything works well, we have the speed to win races. We just need to get qualifying in a better shape. When the qualifying performance is there, it also helps a lot for the race.
It is just nice to be at home for a change. It was damn hot back there in Australia and Malaysia. It will be hot in Bahrain too, but after those two weekends it does not feel that tough anymore.
Let's just wait and see, what we are able to do there.
3/25/2008 02:26:00 p.m.
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''The formula champion Kimi Räikkönen's house in Switzerland may soon be on the market. A German magazine Motorsport-Aktuell tell of a gang of school boys who disturbe Kimi. Their never ending ringing of the door bell gets on the Räikkönens' nevers.
For Kimi and Jenni's misfortune their home in Switzerland lies just next to a school house. Now a group of kids from that school have found out who lives in the neighbourhood.
-Their door bell rings every day and autograph hunters keep on coming, the magazine writes.
According to Motorsport-Aktuell the Räikkönens are so nervouse because of this disturbance that they may soon sell their home in Wollerau.
Luckily they have an opportunity to let their nerves to have some rest, for they have just bought a new villa in Phuket, Thaimaa."
Source: mtv3
Translation: Lady Feanor
3/25/2008 08:21:00 a.m.
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Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA
1st Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), 1h31m18.555s; 2nd Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber), 1h31m38.125s; 3rd Heikki Kovlainen (McLaren), 1h31m57.005s.
Q: Kimi, that was a fantastic win and from the start it looked like a very close race between you and your team-mate Felipe Massa.
Kimi Raikkonen: Yeah, I think so. We were pretty similar speed-wise. Once he went into the pits my car got much better because when you are one or two seconds behind it is a massive difference. I was able to go much quicker on my in-lap and I could pass him. After that when you are in free air the car was handling perfectly and I was able to pull away. After a few laps I don’t know what happened to him but it was a pretty easy race after that first pit stop.
Q: You were obviously outqualified by him by a small margin. In retrospect did that reflect the fuel load or was the car a lot better on race day than it had been on Saturday?
KR: I think sometimes that we still have some difficulties to get the qualifying right. It was good in Q2 but then in qualifying two we could not find the grip with the tyres. But we knew we were running one lap longer, so I was not really panicking. The car usually has been much stronger in the race for us than in the qualifying, so as long as we kept close I thought we would have a good chance to pass him and it worked out in the first pit stop already. The car was very good all weekend but sometimes with new tyres it is difficult to get the best out of it. The team did a great job this weekend.
Q: You seemed to make a pretty good start. Talk us through the first corner as it was pretty close there and for a moment it looked as if perhaps you might have a go.
KR: Yeah, I got alongside Felipe. I got a bit better start but in the situation I knew that we would run one lap longer, so we didn’t want to risk it between the team-mates in the first corner. Maybe if I had pushed harder I could have made it past, but I decided to stay behind and try my move at the pit stop. I think that was better for everybody and it worked out perfectly.
Q: The Malaysian Grand Prix, traditionally, is a very tough race particularly in terms of the heat. But you jumped out of the car and looked pretty fresh when you got out.
KR: It wasn’t too bad really. Of course it is hotter than any other race. Australia was hot but in here it is so humid but for me it was okay. There was a small issue on the podium.
Q: There was champagne under the eye-lid there.
KR: Yeah, we should put it in the mouth not in the eye. Things go wrong sometimes. Anyway it has been a perfect weekend.
Q: Robert, congratulations to you. Your team-mate Nick Heidfeld finished sixth and set fastest race lap. A great day for the BMW Sauber team.
Robert Kubica: I think it is a fantastic result for the team - second time we have second place in a grand prix in a row. After an unlucky Australian Grand Prix finally a podium after Monza 2006, so I am very happy for myself and for the team.
Q: Simple words, but of course a very tough race and you did drive beautifully. Talk us through the race in terms of your tyre choice and perhaps the effect of the heat and strategy and what it was like in the closing stages?
RK: I didn’t have a good start. There was some wheel-spin at the start which compromised my acceleration, so it was quite close with (Jarno) Trulli and Nick. I nearly lost the car on the braking into the first corner as I was inside on the dirty side but I think they touched, so I managed to overtake them. I was trying to keep a consistent pace. We know we cannot keep behind Ferrari but I was trying to make up time as I thought McLaren would be a bit stronger. I saw after the second pit stop that Heikki was around 17 seconds behind me and didn’t close the gap. We did the last pit stop and then just pulled down the revs to keep the engine a bit fresh for the next grand prix which is very important. For the heat it was a tough race and I didn’t feel well all weekend. I was a bit sick and especially our new car is very hot inside. The last 10 laps were pretty tough to keep concentration as 20 seconds in front was Kimi and 20 seconds behind was Heikki, so I was just cruising to the end.
Q: The drink in the car. How was that towards the end of the ace?
RK: Our drink is already hot at the beginning of the race – extremely hot as in the cockpit we have massive temperatures, so I didn’t drink a lot as the drink was too hot. Next time I try to use hot tea inside the bottle.
Q: You were behind the Ferraris early on. Where were they quicker and where are you going to be working on improving the car in the upcoming weeks?
RK: First of all I think we have to be happy with our pace already now because at the start of the season it did not look so well. It is very difficult to say where they are quicker. For sure on the top speed we are lacking a bit and it makes for tough racing because you have to push really hard in the corners knowing that in the straight you will be losing a bit of a gap. Especially on the long distance race it is not easy with tyre degradation and with the new tarmac and the new asphalt here in Sepang we were lacking traction compared to last year, so we will have to work on this.
Q: Heikki, congratulations to you. P3 in qualifying but in fact starting eighth on the grid. But finishing third on the podium – what a fantastic day for you.
Heikki Kovalainen: We have to be pleased with the result. Obviously after yesterday’s penalty it was going to be hard day for us. My strategy worked out very well and I was able to be in the clean air almost all the time. There was a little trouble in the first stint with a bit of graining but after that the car worked pretty well and then on the last stint I also had a gap to the front and to the back, so we turned the engines down and we just brought it home. For me a pretty good day, although we still would have liked to have been a couple of positions higher but today this was the maximum we could do.
Q: A great strategy stopping as late as lap 20 and in that extended first stint being able to pass for example Jarno Trulli and then consolidating that position with pressure from the Toyota for a while.
HK: It was always going to be the laps at the end of the stint that we felt we would be stronger compared to the others. Like I said, earlier on in the stints there was a bit of graining compromising our pace a little bit. That’s why the team decided to keep me on the track a bit longer. It was absolutely the right thing to do and I was able to jump Jarno. It was in the second stint that I was able to accelerate and bring it home.
Q: A great drive and again difficult conditions in many ways. Perhaps your drive was the hardest of the three here. How was it for you in the cockpit?
HK: It is always tough but I feel fairly good after the race, no big problems. We worked very hard with the team and with my trainer, with my doctor, to make sure that I am in a good shape and in a better shape compared to last year. I think the work has paid off but we will carry on like this and eventually we will arrive in the other position.
Q: Kimi, what a fantastic bounce back for the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team after that weekend in Australia?
KR: For sure we had quite a difficult weekend in Australia. We didn’t really expect to have such difficulties and we were 100 per cent sure that it was going to be different here. Speed-wise we knew that we were going to be fine once we were in the right place. Even in Australia the speed should have been okay in the race. Everything worked perfectly here and we took it quite easy in the race to make sure nothing went wrong. We still have a second race with the same engine, so we saved the engine quite well here. It was a perfect job by the team after a difficult first race to come back like this. Overall we would have been happier if Felipe had been on the second place but things go wrong sometimes. This is a good start now for the season for us and we are in a pretty good position.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Kimi, congratulations. It has really looked good all weekend, hasn’t it?
KR: Yeah, I think so. The car has been good all weekend. Of course we had a small problem in first practice on Friday. The car was not exactly what we wanted in qualifying but we knew that we should have a good race pace and it worked out perfectly.
Q: Who have you felt most threatened by during the weekend?
KR: For sure Felipe has been fast but like I said from last year already that the qualifying has not really been the strongest point. Again we had a good Q2, then the tyres didn’t work as well in the final qualifying. That was a bit disappointing but I mean we knew that the car would be strong in the race and we would stop one lap later. We put a lot of effort on that and it worked out good.
Q: Do you think your pace was comparable to Felipe?
KR: We were very close in the first stint. Once he went into the pit my car was much faster. When you do not have anybody in front of you it improves a lot. After the pit stop we were quite easy to pull away from him in the clear air. It is always difficult to follow people close and you need to be very close to be able to pass them at the pit stops so it makes it more difficult.
Q: And after that quite a lonely race, really.
KR: Yeah. For sure we could have gone much faster if we had pushed but we had already turned the engines down before the first pit stop, after the first laps, so it was quite easy for us.
Q: In fact, talking of lonely races, Robert, you had no one anywhere near you: twenty seconds in each direction.
RK: Yeah, that’s true. Only at the beginning of the race I had a close fight with Jarno and Nick, into the first corner. I didn’t manage a good start but afterwards I was trying to increase the gap to the drivers behind. I was expecting McLaren to come on strong. It didn’t happen, luckily for us, and we had quite good pace for the whole race.
Q: It was the best result of your career and also your major sponsor’s home race, so what does this result mean to you?
RK: After a disappointing race in Australia where I qualified second with a small mistake which cost me pole position, the race pace in Australia was not really fantastic, especially in the first stint. Here we worked mainly on the race pace. I knew with some solutions which we chose in qualifying, we would suffer a bit, but then in the race it paid off, so I’m very happy for myself, for the team and for Petronas.
Q: How do you see your pace in comparison to Ferrari?
RK: I think Ferrari was something special because they were not where we were expecting them to be, and here they are exactly where we think that they are. We are lacking a few tenths per lap and this brings the final twenty seconds in the race of sixty laps.
Q: You had a bit of a battle with Jarno, Heikki. Were you basically looking to overtake during the pit stops?
HK: Yeah, that was always going to be the case. In my race today I suffered a little bit at the beginning of the first and second stints, with a little bit of graining with my front tyres, so the only time for me really to attack was at the end of the stint. The car was getting better towards the end of the stint and I was able to push more. So I wasn’t too worried when Jarno was behind me, because I knew that I was going very long in the second stint, and I was fairly sure that he wouldn’t be going that long, so I just kept it nice and easy with my tyres, trying to make sure they were in good shape whenever he pitted and I was able to do a few good laps at that point and for the last stint it was relatively easy.
Q: Was there much difference between the tyre performance?
HK: The first stint didn’t feel quite as good with the softer tyre. The second stint felt better with the harder one but then the last stint on the softer tyre felt good again. I think there was a bit of track evolution. So it wasn’t too bad.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi and Heikki, this was the greatest ever Grand Prix result for Finnish drivers. How does it feel to be a Finn and when will we see a one-two result?
KR: It hasn’t changed anything, even the results, for me at least. For sure it was a good day for Finns but it’s still early season. Hopefully at some point we will be one and two, but I will be looking for first place all the time and a best possible overall result. It was a good day for us.
HK: Yeah, pretty much the same for me. It’s good to have Finns here on the podium and in Finland they are talking about the Formula One Finnish championship but let’s see if it carries on like this. There are many other good drivers and it’s not always going to be like this, but I wouldn’t complain if it happened a few more times.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi, were you surprised at the start when Felipe was closing on you a little bit?
KR: Not really. I think I had enough space. He was pushing me a little bit on the right side but that’s racing. It was OK.
Q: (Mark Danby – Auto Magazine China) Kimi, did your tyres behave to your expectations at the end of each stint?
KR: No. The first stint was the most difficult because I was quite close to Felipe so, like I said, once he came into the pits, the car suddenly felt much better. It’s always when you’re one or two seconds behind somebody that there’s still a massive effect on the aerodynamics. Apart from that, it was very good, the tyres felt perfect. I think the soft tyre could have been the faster one in the end, but of course we didn’t push any more in the last two stints.
Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Kimi, after the quite disastrous race in Australia, how much more confidence do you take from this race that the rest of the season will be OK?
KR: We never lost confidence in our team. Of course we had quite a difficult race in Australia, but the whole winter the car has been working well, it’s been quick. Unfortunately we had some problems which we didn’t really expect at the first race and hopefully we can get rid of them like here where we didn’t have any issues but you never know, we’re still not one hundred percent happy with things. We still try to improve them but for sure, we have confidence in the team, in the car, in the people, so we will definitely do the best that we can, and hopefully we can be fast again in the next race.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi, were you surprised McLaren were so far behind you?
KR: No, I think it’s been the same all weekend. I already said in Australia that our speed should be fine. When you start behind someone, as in Australia, you can never use your own speed. Australia is not exactly a normal circuit, so sometimes you get slightly wrong results there. Last year we were much faster than everybody there, and coming here we were not so happy anymore, so it’s a bit the opposite now. I think the next race can be different again, so we need to wait and see and after a few races we will get a clearer picture where we are exactly.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Kimi, in the lap that you came in for the first pit stop, you did the best T1 and T2 times of the race at that stage. Could you do that with Massa in front of you or did you expect him to go into the pits to do that?
KR: Like I said already, when he went in my car got much better because I was quite close. It always affects the car. I think it needs to be around six seconds in front of you before you don’t feel anything anymore. I was only less than two seconds, so once he pulled in my car just got much quicker and I was able to go more than half a second faster on the in lap. It was enough, we knew that it was going to be close and it worked out perfectly. Once I was in front of him the car was much better in the second stint and I was able to pull away.
Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Heikki, even in the middle stint, when you couldn’t quite go at the pace of the BMWs, although you said that the tyres were working quite well, do you think you had no chance to beat them today, and how do you see your team in comparison to Ferrari?
HK: I think there was no way we could match Ferrari. BMW also seemed to be very strong on race day, but then again, when you start further down on the grid, it’s always going to be a compromise. You initially lose quite a lot of time, the first few laps you can lose a couple of seconds a lap if you get stuck in traffic and you’re fighting for position, so by the time I sort of got going in the race, the gap to Robert was seventeen seconds. It’s impossible to say what would have happened had we started where we qualified, but in any case, I think we did the maximum today that was possible and third place for me was more than enough today.
3/24/2008 07:14:00 a.m.
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If Australia was a nightmare for Ferrari, Malaysia was a dream. Kimi Raikkonen toyed initially with polesitting team mate Felipe Massa, took the lead after their first pit stops, and sauntered into the distance to a victory that puts him back into contention for a second world title.
Massa blotted his copybook by spinning out of an easy second place on the 31st lap, leaving Robert Kubica to take an excellent runner-up result for BMW Sauber. In the closing laps, though 22 seconds adrift, the Pole set a similar pace to Raikkonen.
Heikki Kovalainen was McLaren’s leading runner in a distant third place, a similar distance in arrears.
For Lewis Hamilton, it was a race spent playing catch-up. He made a great start to jump from ninth up to fifth place behind the Ferraris, Kubica and similarly fast-starting Mark Webber in the Red Bull. But then a problem with the right-front wheel during his first pit stop dropped him down to 11th place, and he lost time hand over fist in the traffic.
That enabled Jarno Trulli to come through to a good fourth place for Toyota, with Hamilton dogging his wheel tracks after a great recovery drive. The truth, however, was that this time out Ferrari were stronger, and the pace of BMW Sauber will have both top teams keeping a close eye on the white and blue cars.
Nick Heidfeld set fastest lap in the closing stages as he thirsted after Hamilton, while Webber was able to hold off a challenging Fernando Alonso in the Renault as they wrapped up the final points.
more at formula1.com
Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 56 1:31:18.555 2 10
2 4 Robert Kubica BMW 56 +19.5 secs 4 8
3 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 56 +38.4 secs 8 6
4 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota 56 +45.8 secs 3 5
5 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 56 +46.5 secs 9 4
6 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW 56 +49.8 secs 5 3
7 10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 56 +68.1 secs 6 2
8 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 56 +70.0 secs 7 1
9 9 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 56 +76.2 secs 12
10 16 Jenson Button Honda 56 +86.2 secs 11
11 6 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 56 +92.2 secs 13
12 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 55 +1 Lap 17
13 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda 55 +1 Lap 14
14 7 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 55 +1 Lap 16
15 19 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 55 +1 Lap 21
16 18 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 54 +2 Laps 19
17 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 54 +2 Laps 22
Ret 15 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 39 Hydraulics 15
Ret 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 30 Spin 1
Ret 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 5 Hydraulics 20
Ret 12 Timo Glock Toyota 1 Accident 10
Ret 14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 0 Spin 18
3/23/2008 03:45:00 p.m.
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Kovalainen, Hamilton to lose five grid placesMcLaren drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton will each drop five places on the grid for Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix after stewards decided they had blocked rival drivers in the closing stages in qualifying. They will now start the race eighth and ninth respectively.
Kovalainen and Hamilton were called before the stewards after suggestions that BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld and Renault’s Fernando Alonso were impeded during their final Q3 runs, when the McLaren drivers were conserving fuel on slowing-down laps, both having completed their final runs.
More at formula1.com
3/22/2008 10:18:00 p.m.
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Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA
Drivers: 1st Felipe Massa (Ferrari), 1m35.748s; 2nd Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), 1m36.230s; 3rd Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren), 1m36.613s.
Q: Felipe, a beautiful lap to watch. You were a half second quicker than your team-mate in Q3 but a little bit slower in Q2. Talk us through that.
Felipe Massa: I managed to make a fantastic lap in Q3 which is the most important one. I did a great lap the first try and the second try without a mistake. In Q2 I didn’t make very good laps and I was struggling a little bit on the grip from the tyres on the lap. Also I didn’t do a very good last sector as well just braking a little bit too early at turn 14. It was just stupid mistakes. Not really mistakes but just a stupid lap. Then I managed to put everything together in Q3 and did a great lap.
Q: Apart from the disappointments of Melbourne you obviously felt confident coming here with a different track surface and with Ferrari having such a great record here.
FM: Definitely. Our championship is starting now. What happened in the last race was incredible and we didn’t expect that. We did a very good job during the winter but coming to the first race and having a lot of problems like we had was not expected. But hopefully now we can manage to put everything together to have a very consistent, quick and good championship.
Q: There was a lot of talk before qualifying about the potential for rain here on Saturday and perhaps even tomorrow. How did that affect the preparation for qualifying and the way you ran qualifying?
FM: To be honest, it did not affect it too much. You just needed to be starting the session by going out straight away, so if it was raining at least you could put one lap on paper. Everybody did that. You saw at the beginning of the qualifying everybody going out, just a little bit afraid that if the rain comes at least you had a lap, so I think it was not a big difference compared to a normal qualifying.
Q: And what were the conditions like right at the end there?
FM: It was okay. We had a couple of drops but it did not affect the performance on the track, so it was no problem at all.
Q: Kimi, it was a very quick lap in Q2, a 1min34.1secs, the fastest lap of qualifying. Talk us through your Q3 and how you feel in terms of the race tomorrow?
Kimi Raikkonen: I was not sure what happened with Q3. The car is good, but I just couldn’t get the grip. I didn’t get the best out of it, but anyhow I am in second place. It is a good place to start and we should have a strong race car. It is going to be a long hot race tomorrow and we don’t know about the weather. But I think we can look forward quite happily to it.
Q: Once the race began in Melbourne, even from where you started on the grid, you were very quick. How does the car compare here in terms of its feel and grip level with Melbourne?
KR: I think this is a more normal circuit, so the car has been quick all weekend. I think we are seeing two completely different circuits but our car should be fast anywhere but when you start from behind it is very difficult to show your speed. Tomorrow should be a bit clearer about who is where and what kind of speed everyone is doing.
Q: Felipe obviously has the clean side of the road off the line. Without traction control now how do you anticipate it is going to be on the dirty side of the grid?
KR: I don’t know. It is very difficult to say. Hopefully we will get a good start and it is up to us much more now than it was before. In the last race we had a very good start, so hopefully we can manage to do that also tomorrow.
Q: Congratulations to you Heikki. Your second successive P3 in qualifying and just ahead of your team-mate Lewis Hamilton. First of all from a personal point of view your feelings about qualifying third behind the two Ferraris and being the fastest McLaren driver.
Heikki Kovalainen: Of course we were hoping to do a couple of places better but obviously, Ferrari, they have both been very fast here all weekend and we had nothing more to give today. I think third place was the maximum we could achieve today. I am happy about that. It was a clean lap without any big mistakes. It was pretty much the same story as I had in Melbourne, just trying to go step by step and increase the pace as I get used to the team and the car. I think we are on a very good track and still in a good position to start with tomorrow and we will see how the strategy goes. But we will still aim to do the maximum job tomorrow and see what happens.
Q: Does the McLaren feel more difficult to drive here? Does the grip level feel lower than in Melbourne if you could compare the two?
HK: No, not really. It feels pretty similar. I think our balance is very similar to what it was in Melbourne and I think the fact is we didn’t see the true pace of Ferrari in Melbourne. They both had some problems in qualifying or in the race, so I think this is more representative between the pace of the teams. But anyway, like I said, the race is tomorrow and we are still in a good position. By no means the game’s over. Tomorrow we can attack and we will see what we can do.
Q: Felipe, every race win you have had, has been from pole, so this is a good start to the weekend. This is always a difficult race physically for the drivers. Perhaps you could reflect on both those points and how you anticipate the race is going to be from a physical point of view tomorrow?
FM: The race will be very physical here. It is not so physical, but it is also very hot. The humidity we have here is so high and you lose a lot of water from the body. For sure when you get from the middle to the end of the race you start to feel it a little bit just because you are sweating so much. But I am really looking forward to having a strong race and strong physical preparation as well.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Felipe, congratulations. Your best position here is fifth – once from pole last year and once from 21st a couple of years ago. What are your feelings about tomorrow particularly the start if you remember from last year?
FM: My thought is to change the best result I have, hopefully we can repeat what we did today which was a very good job and a very good lap. It was very clean with no mistakes and taking away the maximum from the car. I was pretty happy with our day. In Q2 I couldn’t manage to do a good lap. I was just struggling to find the right grip. Also I was too conservative. But I learned everything I did wrong in Q2 and managed to do a great lap in Q3.
Q: Presumably total confidence in the engine. No problems and no further feelings from last weekend?
FM: For sure, I am looking forward to having a very reliable car. It was a very bad result we had in the last race, not just the engine but also the race itself was a problem and the qualifying with Kimi. It was definitely a weekend to forget. We think we know what we are doing now. We think we know how it is going to be during the race in terms of reliability with all the preparations the engineers are doing, so hopefully we can have two very reliable races now with the same engine.
Q: What are your weather predictions? How much were you slightly worried about rain in qualifying?
FM: I think everybody was a little bit worried but I just managed to be one of the first cars to go out just to try to at least make a lap in case something really different happens and the rain comes. At least you have a lap and you can jump to the next qualifying. But at the end of the day the rain didn’t come, although at the end of Q3 we had a couple of drops but it didn’t affect the track, so it was no problem at all.
Q: What are your weather predictions and how much were you worried about rain in qualifying?
FM: I think everybody was a bit worried but we just managed to be one of the first cars to go out, just to try to at least make a lap if something really different happened, if the rain came, so at least you would have a lap and maybe you can jump to the next qualifying. At the end of the day, the rain didn’t come. At the end of Q3 we had a couple of drops but it didn’t affect the track, so it was no problem at all.
Q: Also on the front row, Kimi Räikkönen, winner in 2003 here. At least it must be very encouraging to be on the front row after the Australian problems.
KR: Yeah, for sure, I think so for the whole team. We’ve been working hard and we’ve got one and two, so it couldn’t have gone better. For sure, I would rather have been in first place but I couldn’t get the tyres working as well as in the second qualifying. I think we still have a strong position for the race, so we will see what we can do.
Q: Who do you prefer to race, your team-mate or someone from another team?
KR: It doesn’t really matter. We know, between us, when we are going to stop, so in that way it’s an easier thing, but in the end you need to beat everybody to win the race, that’s our aim, and hopefully we can have a strong race as a team.
Q: Are we going to see a different type of race to Australia, was that a bit of a one-off, all that incident?
KR: I don’t know. We will see tomorrow. If it’s raining, it can be very tricky here, so anything can happen in a race. If it’s normal conditions, probably not as many mistakes and people going off. I’m expecting a few more people to finish the race.
Q: Heikki, a bit of a surprise to out-qualify your team-mate?
HK: Yeah, of course Lewis is a strong driver and it’s always difficult to beat him, but honestly, all weekend I’ve been fairly happy with my car since the first practice sessions on Friday. Yesterday I was feeling comfortable and we’ve been going in the right direction little by little all the time. The qualifying session was fairly straightforward for me, nothing special, but they were all clean laps and I managed to… probably the best lap was the last Q3 lap with more fuel in the car, so I think we’re in a good position. Of course Ferrari seems to be very strong but we are right behind them and the race is long, so we can look forward to a good race tomorrow.
Q: Interesting to see you trying both types of tyre in Q3. What was the thinking behind that?
HK: We were not entirely sure which one was going to be the better one, so that’s the reason behind it really.
Q: Does that mean you’re not entirely sure for the race either?
HK: Now I am sure, yeah.
Q: Last year most people were on the softer tyre.
HK: Yeah, I think it was more the one lap pace that we were not sure of, seeing how the tyres were lasting throughout the lap, but to be honest, in the longer run, we have a clearer picture, so it’s no concern at all.
Q: What are your feelings about the weather tomorrow?
HK: Honestly, everybody has a different prediction and obviously today we were a little bit concerned, just by looking at the sky because in Q3, we thought it might start to rain, so we went early and I think tomorrow the best we can do is look up to the sky, fifteen minutes before the start and see what happens.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, was that a perfect lap you did in Q2 and for Heikki, how much did it mean to you to beat Lewis already in the second qualifying?
KR: I think you can always improve if you try again, but it was a good lap, the car felt good. Unfortunately we couldn’t get as good a lap in the last qualifying but that’s life.
HK: Well, for me, I must stress that my primary target is not to beat Lewis. I would rather be in the first position than the third position but of course to beat Lewis… he’s a great driver, he did a great year last year. He’s a very fast driver, to be ahead of him is always good but of course as a team we want to do better, we want to be higher than third and for me, I’m not making a big number out of it. I need to just keep the focus on the race tomorrow and that’s the best we can do.
Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Felipe, last year you had Alonso beside you, now you have your team-mate beside you, even if you have to expect that Kimi will push. Do you feel more comfortable now?
FM: No, it doesn’t matter. You always try to do the best start you can, you always try to stay in front at the first corner. Last year it was not possible. I will just try to do better this year. I should have a good start, so let’s hope and see if we can keep the same position tomorrow.
Q: (Mark Danby – Auto Magazine China) A question to Kimi: were you happy with your start last week and do you hold any concerns for tomorrow on the dirty side of the track?
KR: No, we were happy. I gained many places on the first lap, so it was good but of course this is a different circuit, definitely, different conditions. I don’t know if it’s going to make a difference not being on the clean side but we will see tomorrow. Hopefully we can have a good start. It’s up to us really, so we will try the best.
Q: (Marco Evangelisti – Corriere dello Sport) Felipe, you were one of the first to say that it would be tricky to drive in the wet without traction control. Now many drivers agree with you. Do you think it was a mistake to take traction control off the cars?
FM: I don’t think it was a mistake. I think – if I need to give my opinion – I think we should have a safe setting for everybody for the wet, because if we have a situation like in Japan last year, maybe we’re not going to have any cars finishing the race. I think there’s always room to improve. In the dry it’s quite nice to drive the cars without traction control, it’s not a big problem but in the wet it will be different. There’s always room to improve. We just need to see how it’s going to be the first time in the rain. But you know, just from having the feeling of driving in the wet in winter testing was not so easy.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Heikki, before you said that here the situation is more realistic than it was in Melbourne. Does that mean that Ferrari is pretty much in front of you and that it could be hard for the next races?
HK: I’m hope I’m wrong – or the prediction I made in Melbourne is not correct. Certainly today – and to be honest all weekend – the Ferraris have looked strong but we will see tomorrow how the strategies are panning out and how the race is panning out. We are still in a good position to fight and I think all I can say is that we know they are going to be strong all the way through the year, but we can improve our package as well, so there’s no concern.
Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Kimi, given the fact that it might rain tomorrow, how much of a relief is it that you can start from the front row?
KR: I don’t think it makes much difference if it rains. If it’s dry you would rather be in the front (row) anyway, it’s much easier there, less chance to have accidents and less people to follow, so it should be a bit easier. We will see how the weather is tomorrow. It can be very tricky, it can change very quickly here.
3/22/2008 10:16:00 p.m.
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3/22/2008 10:35:00 a.m.
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By Simon Strang
Kimi Raikkonen admitted that second place was the best he could have hoped for after qualifying half a second behind teammate Felipe Massa to ensure a Ferrari lock-out of the front row in Malaysia.
The world champion, who was quickest in Q2, admitted that he could not find the grip he needed to challenge Massa, but added that he was unconcerned by missing out on pole position.
"I was not so happy with the Q3 but the car is good," he said. "We couldn't get the grip really, but anyhow second place is a good place to start, we should have a good strong car.
"It's going to be a long hot race tomorrow and we don't know about the weather yet so we are looking forward to it."
Raikkonen also remarked that there should be no surprise about Ferrari's return to form in Sepang, which he described as a more 'traditional' circuit than Melbourne, where neither Ferrari finished the race last weekend.
"I think this is a more normal circuit so the car has been quick all weekend," he said. "I think it is a completely different circuit [to Melbourne], so our car should be pretty fast everywhere, when you start from behind it is difficult to use your own speed, tomorrow should be okay."
3/22/2008 10:26:00 a.m.
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Pos No Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:35.347 1:34.412 1:35.748 17
2 1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:35.645 1:34.188 1:36.230 13
3 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.227 1:34.759 1:36.613 12
4 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.392 1:34.627 1:36.709 18
5 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:35.205 1:34.825 1:36.711 18
6 4 Robert Kubica BMW 1:35.794 1:34.811 1:36.727 13
7 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:35.729 1:34.648 1:36.753 13
8 10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:35.440 1:34.967 1:37.009 18
9 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:35.983 1:35.140 1:38.450 18
10 12 Timo Glock Toyota 1:35.891 1:35.000 1:39.656 20
11 16 Jenson Button Honda 1:35.847 1:35.208 15
12 9 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:36.058 1:35.408 12
13 6 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 1:36.074 1:35.562 12
14 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:36.198 1:35.622 15
15 15 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 1:36.111 1:35.648 15
16 7 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:35.843 1:35.670 13
17 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:36.240 9
18 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:36.388 9
19 14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 1:36.677 8
20 18 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:37.087 9
21 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:37.101 10
22 19 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:37.481 9
3/22/2008 09:49:00 a.m.
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Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps
1 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:35.019 18
2 1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:35.262 0.243 17
3 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:35.388 0.369 17
4 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:35.389 0.370 20
5 10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:35.437 0.418 16
6 9 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:35.653 0.634 17
7 6 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 1:35.768 0.749 15
8 16 Jenson Button Honda 1:35.781 0.762 19
9 15 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 1:35.827 0.808 16
10 12 Timo Glock Toyota 1:35.911 0.892 21
11 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.927 0.908 13
12 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:36.068 1.049 14
13 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:36.183 1.164 14
14 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:36.229 1.210 21
15 7 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:36.490 1.471 7
16 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.529 1.510 16
17 4 Robert Kubica BMW 1:36.618 1.599 19
18 14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 1:36.668 1.649 15
19 18 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:36.908 1.889 14
20 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:36.939 1.920 21
21 19 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:37.140 2.121 12
22 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:37.703 2.684 6
3/22/2008 09:48:00 a.m.
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The first day of the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend brought the predicted tight battle between McLaren and Ferrari, but also a few surprises, not least Jenson Button fourth fastest for Honda and Giancarlo Fisichella ninth for Force India. All 22 men report back from Sepang (note - times and positions refer to practice two)...
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren (1st, 1m 35.055ss):
"I am pretty happy with today's results as the car showed consistent pace throughout the session and good overall speed. Unfortunately the morning session was not perfect as I had a slight problem on the car right at the end, but this didn't really have any effect on our planned programme of tyre evaluation and race set-up work."
Felipe Massa, Ferrari (2nd, +0.151s):
"I am very happy with these two sessions. The car proved to be very quick and consistent on both types of tyre. It's a shame I was unable to get the most out of the second set of soft tyres, when I found myself behind Hamilton who was going slowly. We are working in the right direction for qualifying and the race."
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari (3rd, +0.373ss):
"This morning I lost time because of a communication problem within the team, but we made up for it in the second session. The car seems to be going well and I am pleased with the work we have done. I worked mainly on the harder tyres, but I think that even with the softs, from what we have seen, we can be competitive. It is always difficult to say where we are compared to our rivals, but I think we can face the rest of the weekend with confidence."
Jenson Button, Honda (4th, +0.982s):
"The track here at Sepang has been completely resurfaced since last year, so it was important to see how much of a difference this has made. We also ran through the usual tyre evaluation and set-up work and we have completed a lot of running, which is good. All in all, a very valuable day of testing in preparation for the weekend.
"We have made good progress over the day and I'm happy with the car and the balance, which is positive. It's always difficult to know where we stand on a Friday versus the rest of the field but I'm hopeful that we can continue to improve the car through this evening and tomorrow."
Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso (4th, +1.419s):
"Laptimes don't always tell the full story, but I think we can be happy with the afternoon, when we did quite a lot of laps. Unfortunately, this morning we had a brake problem, but in the end it did not cost us too much time and we were able to continue with our programme in the afternoon. We spent most of the time fine-tuning the car and finding the right balance, sorting out tyre choice. It has been a good day and we have got plenty of data to study for tomorrow."
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3/21/2008 02:08:00 p.m.
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Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps
1 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.055 32
2 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:35.206 0.151 33
3 1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:35.428 0.373 36
4 16 Jenson Button Honda 1:36.037 0.982 40
5 15 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 1:36.474 1.419 35
6 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:36.493 1.438 38
7 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.512 1.457 30
8 4 Robert Kubica BMW 1:36.671 1.616 33
9 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:36.756 1.701 37
10 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:36.838 1.783 34
11 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:36.879 1.824 38
12 7 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:36.908 1.853 36
13 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:37.106 2.051 35
14 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:37.328 2.273 23
15 6 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 1:37.331 2.276 42
16 10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:37.346 2.291 37
17 12 Timo Glock Toyota 1:37.512 2.457 35
18 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:37.614 2.559 35
19 18 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:39.021 3.966 27
20 19 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:39.361 4.306 30
21 14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari No time 1
22 9 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault No time 0
3/21/2008 02:02:00 p.m.
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Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps
1 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:35.392 20
2 1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:36.459 1.067 8
3 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.556 1.164 21
4 7 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:36.578 1.186 23
5 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.626 1.234 17
6 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:37.022 1.630 18
7 6 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 1:37.034 1.642 28
8 4 Robert Kubica BMW 1:37.218 1.826 9
9 16 Jenson Button Honda 1:37.282 1.890 17
10 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:37.540 2.148 24
11 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:37.649 2.257 17
12 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:37.649 2.257 18
13 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:37.776 2.384 20
14 12 Timo Glock Toyota 1:37.782 2.390 27
15 15 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 1:38.219 2.827 26
16 9 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:38.232 2.840 7
17 10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:38.707 3.315 12
18 14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 1:38.798 3.406 25
19 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:39.046 3.654 21
20 18 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:40.178 4.786 11
21 19 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:40.351 4.959 14
22 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:41.269 5.877 5
3/21/2008 02:01:00 p.m.
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MTV3 preview
3/21/2008 09:40:00 a.m.
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3/20/2008 08:41:00 p.m.
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By Jonathan Noble Thursday, March 20th 2008, 10:55 GMT
Q. How do you think this weekend will go?
Kimi Raikkonen: I don't know. It is too early to say. We will see tomorrow how the car runs, how everything goes, but as long as we get everything working well we should be okay. I don't think that there will be issues as long as things go well.
Q. Have you worked with the engineers over the last few days on the problems in Australia?
KR: For sure everybody has been working hard. They have been trying to find the reasons for the problems, but we only had a few days. I think they have found the problems and they have tried to solve them.
Q. What was the problem?
KR: I don't know exactly, I haven't had a meeting yet.
Q. This track hasn't suited Ferrari particularly well in the past. Is that a worry?
KR: Well, I think we have the speed and as long as everything works well we should be okay. I don't think last year was best for us, but we also didn't get the best out of the car. We will see how it goes.
Q. The decision of Jean Todt to leave Ferrari. Does it change the situation inside Ferrari?
KR: I don't think so. I think there are a lot of people who can replace him. He has always been there, and he is very good at what he does, but I think it is not going to change much in the team or how it runs.
Q. After you spoke with the engineers and have seen what they have done, are you more relaxed about the future because you were quite concerned after Australia?
KR: I wasn't worried, but I suppose we were not happy with what happened. We knew from the winter that we could be fast, and we didn't have any major issues, but when we came to the first race we had two failures with the engine - which wasn't exactly what we were expecting. It is a long season and like I said, if we get everything running well, we should be up there. I am not packing, nobody is panicking, but we want better results than the first race.
Q. Are you confident for this weekend?
KR: I don't know. We will wait and see how it is, we need to see how strong we can be tomorrow and I think then we will have a much clearer picture.
Q. You ran off the track twice during the race in Melbourne. How much was that down to the track characteristics, and how much down to you?
KR: It was my mistake; it was nothing to do with the circuit. I knew I needed to get past Heikki (Kovalainen) but I was too optimistic and I went off. I think with all the safety cars and everything, we were not in such a good position. So I needed to get past, and made a mistake. These things happen.
Q. Is it much easier to make mistakes this year because of the lack of engine braking?
KR: No, I don't think it changes anything. Even with last year's car, the same would have happened if I had done the same thing. It was just purely my mistake.
Q. With the rain here on Sunday, how will it be without traction control?
KR: We have had some tests in the race, and I think it depends a lot on the circuits. At some circuits you have much more grip in the wet than the others. Usually when it rains here it is quite heavy, which can make it quite tricky. But it is the same for everybody, and I haven't driven here for a long time in the wet. So I don't know how it will. But I think we should be okay.
Q. Lewis Hamilton has said that he believes McLaren are stronger than Ferrari, and that he did not show the team's true speed in Melbourne...
KR: I don't know. I don't really care what they said. I think we have a strong car, a fast car, and things can work well.
Q. Do you think you have an issue with getting heat into the tyres on the first lap?
KR: I think it is more like it was last year. Probably we are not the strongest on the first lap out, but I think in race conditions we have good speed and good consistency. But for sure we will try to improve on that issue.
Q. Niki Lauda said that he didn't expect your mistakes in Melbourne. How do you react to that?
KR: I made a mistake, so I don't expect to make many mistakes myself. Those things happen sometimes. It is not the end of my life. We come and we race and we try to do better.
Q. The GPDA directors have said they are making a push to try and get you and Lewis into the organisation. Do you have any interest in joining them?
KR: I don't know. It is not really going to change for anything from last year, so we will see what happens in the future.
Source: Autosport
3/20/2008 08:27:00 p.m.
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By Jonathan Noble Thursday, March 20th 2008, 06:55 GMT
Ferrari are confident that their engine problems that marred their Australian Grand Prix were a one-off, after getting to the bottom of what caused their dramas in Melbourne.
The Italian team suffered a double engine failure on Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen's cars at Albert Park, and flew the power units back to their Maranello base for analysis of what caused the malfunctions.
This work has established that the higher-than-expected temperatures in Australia contributed to a fuel-feel problem, which in turn led to a failure of the intake valves of the engines.
A Ferrari spokesman told autosport.com in Malaysia: "It was a fuel-feed problem partly related to the hot temperatures in Melbourne. It provoked a failure of the intake valve on both engines.
"It wasn't a quality control problem, nor was it a cooling problem. Obviously, you can't change these engines so we will work hard on improving the mapping, but we're confident this was a one-off."
Ferrari have also rubbished any talk that their problems were related to the introduction of the standard ECU in Formula One this year.
"It was not an ECU problem, although the new units do mean we have to learn new methods to operate the engine," added the spokesman.
3/20/2008 08:24:00 p.m.
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Former Ferrari team boss Jean Todt has stepped down from his position as the company's CEO.
Todt had handed over the reins of the racing team to Stefano Domenicali at the start of this year.
He will remain on the Ferrari board, and has been appointed to special duties within the GT division and sports management by company president Luca di Montezemolo.
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3/19/2008 09:46:00 a.m.
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3/18/2008 11:39:00 a.m.
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Honda’s Rubens Barrichello has been disqualified from sixth place in the Australian Grand Prix. Barrichello was penalised by stewards for exiting the pits under a red light. It means Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen moves up to eighth place and hence scores a point.
The penalty brought a sad end to what had been an eventful afternoon for Barrichello. After putting in a performance far stronger than anyone had predicted in the RA108, the Brazilian fell victim to unlucky timing when he was forced to pit for fuel under the safety car.
Not only did that infringement earn him a ten-second stop-go penalty, Barrichello also managed to drag over a mechanic as he left his box before the refuelling man had removed the hose from the car. He then rejoined the race, despite the red light at the end of the pit lane, a move which ultimately saw him excluded from the result
"Shortly after we called Rubens in for the second of two planned pit stops, Timo Glock had a crash and the safety car was deployed,” explained team principal Ross Brawn. “We had no alternative but to continue to bring him in because he was out of fuel, although we realised that the pit lane was going to be closed due to the safety car and that this would result in a ten-second stop-go penalty.
“During the pit stop the lollipop was lifted just a fraction early while the fuel hose was just coming off the car. After the pit stop Rubens exited the pit lane when the lights were still red and obviously this is in breach of the regulations. A tough set of circumstances after an otherwise very committed drive by Rubens."
Barrichello’s disqualification means Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima moves up to sixth place, while Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais is promoted to seventh, despite not finishing the race.
3/17/2008 09:37:00 p.m.
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On the Thursday of the first race of the season, all the drivers make an appearance at a special photographers' enclosure. They must dress in their overalls and carry their helmets so they can be captured with their new look for the first time.
With the blazing Melbourne sunshine pushing temperatures up to around 37-degrees centigrade, Raikkonen was clearly unimpressed at being suited up and having to stand around for pictures. Which explains why he stayed for a grand total of seven seconds, before turning around and walking away.
This obviously left the photographers irate, and the FIA too – who made it clear to Ferrari that Raikkonen's behaviour was not acceptable and that he would have to come back and do it again.
So a few hours later, Raikkonen had to get dressed back into his overalls, traipse down to the photographers and have his pictures taken again.
After about 15 seconds of pictures, one of the photographers cheekily shouted out: "Heh Kimi, are you waiting for something?"
And with a shrug of his shoulders, Raikkonen turned around and marched off…
3/17/2008 08:34:00 p.m.
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Kimi Raikkonen - 8th:
"It's really disappointing not to finish the race, but at least the point is better than nothing. deci i-au dat pana la urma 1 punct? I had an engine problem, the reason for which now needs to be analysed. The car was good and I had a good pace when I found a free track ahead of me.
"I spun a couple of times trying to pass those ahead of me, but the first time, with Glock, I put a wheel on the grass and the second time, with Kovalainen, I was a bit too optimistic. This result is obviously not the best start to the season but it is a very long one and we are well aware that we are capable of recovering from far worse situations than this. We have to put everything in place and then we will be really competitive."
Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 58 1:34:50.616 1 10
2 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW 58 +5.4 secs 5 8
3 7 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 58 +8.1 secs 7 6
4 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 58 +17.1 secs 11 5
5 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 58 +18.0 secs 3 4
6 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 57 +1 Lap 13 3
7 14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 55 +3 Laps 17 2
8 1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 53 Engine 15 1
Ret 4 Robert Kubica BMW 47 Accident 2
Ret 12 Timo Glock Toyota 43 Accident 18
Ret 18 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 32 Transmission 19
Ret 6 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 30 Accident damage 20
Ret 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 29 Engine 4
Ret 9 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 25 Accident 8
Ret 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota 19 Electrical 6
Ret 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 8 Hydraulics 22
Ret 10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 0 Accident 14
Ret 16 Jenson Button Honda 0 Accident 12
Ret 19 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 0 Accident 21
Ret 15 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 0 Accident 9
Ret 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 0 Accident 16
DSQ 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda 58 +52.4 secs 10
3/16/2008 11:42:00 a.m.
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Lewis Hamilton got his bid for the world title off to the ideal start as he won a highly-eventful season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver had to keep his composure throughout three separate safety car periods to come through for his fifth Formula 1 victory, but was never severely troubled at the front.
However that was not the case for his likely main title rivals, with Ferrari enduring a nightmare start to the season with both Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa retiring.
The Italian squad’s failures allowed some of the chasing pack a rare chance to score some big points finishes.
BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld kept his composure to come through in second place, while Nico Rosberg scored his first F1 podium with third for Williams.
It looked set to be an equally landmark day for Sebastien Bourdais on his Formula 1 debut – but the Toro Rosso new boy’s drive from 18th on the grid to a stunning fourth ended in heartache when he hit technical trouble with just three laps remaining.
Fernando Alonso drove a steady race to fourth place on his first race back at Renault, although he looked set to finish a slot lower after a late battle with his McLaren replacement Heikki Kovalainen.
The Finn, who had been on course for second until the final safety car period ruined his chances, passed Alonso on the penultimate lap – but inexplicably lost drive coming out of the final corner and the Spaniard retook the position.
Honda’s Rubens Barrichello was sixth, with Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima scoring two points for seventh.
And such was the high level of retirements, Bourdais was classified in eighth.
Full result and report to follow...
The McLaren driver had to keep his composure throughout three separate safety car periods to come through for his fifth Formula 1 victory, but was never severely troubled at the front.
However that was not the case for his likely main title rivals, with Ferrari enduring a nightmare start to the season with both Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa retiring.
The Italian squad’s failures allowed some of the chasing pack a rare chance to score some big points finishes.
BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld kept his composure to come through in second place, while Nico Rosberg scored his first F1 podium with third for Williams.
It looked set to be an equally landmark day for Sebastien Bourdais on his Formula 1 debut – but the Toro Rosso new boy’s drive from 18th on the grid to a stunning fourth ended in heartache when he hit technical trouble with just three laps remaining.
Fernando Alonso drove a steady race to fourth place on his first race back at Renault, although he looked set to finish a slot lower after a late battle with his McLaren replacement Heikki Kovalainen.
The Finn, who had been on course for second until the final safety car period ruined his chances, passed Alonso on the penultimate lap – but inexplicably lost drive coming out of the final corner and the Spaniard retook the position.
Honda’s Rubens Barrichello was sixth, with Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima scoring two points for seventh.
And such was the high level of retirements, Bourdais was classified in eighth.
Full result and report to follow...
3/16/2008 08:21:00 a.m.
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Pos No Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.572 1:25.187 1:26.714 14
2 4 Robert Kubica BMW 1:26.103 1:25.315 1:26.869 15
3 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.664 1:25.452 1:27.079 13
4 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:25.994 1:25.691 1:27.178 12
5 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:25.960 1:25.518 1:27.236 16
6 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:26.427 1:26.101 1:28.527 17
7 7 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:26.295 1:26.059 1:28.687 21
8 9 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:26.381 1:26.063 1:29.041 18
9 12 Timo Glock Toyota 1:26.919 1:26.164 1:29.593 17
10 15 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 1:26.702 1:25.842 No time 18
11 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:26.369 1:26.173 13
12 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:26.907 1:26.188 10
13 16 Jenson Button Honda 1:26.712 1:26.259 13
14 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:26.891 1:26.413 13
15 10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:26.914 No time 8
16 1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:26.140 3
17 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:27.207 9
18 14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 1:27.446 10
19 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:27.859 9
20 18 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:28.208 9
21 6 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 1:28.330 6
22 19 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:29.059 9
update. declasificare timo glock
1 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.572 1:25.187 1:26.714 14
2 4 Robert Kubica BMW 1:26.103 1:25.315 1:26.869 15
3 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.664 1:25.452 1:27.079 13
4 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:25.994 1:25.691 1:27.178 12
5 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:25.960 1:25.518 1:27.236 16
6 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:26.427 1:26.101 1:28.527 17
7 7 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:26.295 1:26.059 1:28.687 21
8 9 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:26.381 1:26.063 1:29.041 18
9 12 Timo Glock Toyota 1:26.919 1:26.164 1:29.593 17
10 15 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 1:26.702 1:25.842 No time 18
11 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:26.369 1:26.173 13
12 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:26.907 1:26.188 10
13 16 Jenson Button Honda 1:26.712 1:26.259 13
14 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:26.891 1:26.413 13
15 10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:26.914 No time 8
16 1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:26.140 3
17 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:27.207 9
18 14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 1:27.446 10
19 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:27.859 9
20 18 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:28.208 9
21 6 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 1:28.330 6
22 19 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:29.059 9
update. declasificare timo glock
3/15/2008 08:48:00 a.m.
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Din ciclul "riscul de'a ma trezi degeaba cu noaptea in cap".
Qualifying remains unchanged from last year, except for shortening the final session by 5 minutes and allowing the drivers to choose any amount of fuel in that part, contrary to starting with the amount of fuel for the race.
Q1 is engaged by Toro Rosso but other teams quickly follow to inspect the circuit. They set the early pace with Honda and Super Aguri but are quickly surpassed by Alonso, Webber and Trulli. As later on everyone gives it a go Kovalainen comes out on top, ahead of Heidfeld, Kubica and Massa.
There are immediate disappointments for both Super Aguri drivers, both Force India's, Bourdais and Nelson Piquet. Kimi Raikkonen managed to post the 5th time but re-entered the pitlane slowly just before the end of the session with an apparent gear selection problem. 5 minutes later the World Champion is out of his car and is not allowed to take part in this qualifying any further.
In Q2, Vettel is again the first man out on track, but it is Webber who takes all the focus as he appears to suffer a braking problem and goes off the circuit into the gravel trap. While initiating braking, lots of brake dust exited from right front wheel and obviously hampered braking power. The session was immediately stopped until the car is removed from the circuit.
As soon as the session is restarted, BMW show their form and are faster than the remaining Ferrari. Few minutes later, Hamilton tops that with just 0.2 seconds. By that time, Kovalainen is also in the safe zone in 3rd place. All others behind Massa are out again. Vettel manages to put himself in 6th, followed by Rosberg, Coulthard and both Toyota's. Alonso is out, together with Button, Barrichello, Nakajima and the unfortunates, Webber and Raikkonen.
Q3 is now a 10 minute session and Vettel is again the first to try it out. Rosberg is however the first to record a timed lap but is topped largely by Heidfeld with a lap in 1:27.821. After a first string of flying laps, Hamilton leads the pack, ahead of Massa, Kovalainen, Heidfeld and Trulli.
Hamilton even improves and confirms his first pole of the year, ahead of Kubica who may have had a go at the pole had he not gone slightly wide in turn 12. Kovalainen is third, Massa fourth.
3/15/2008 06:16:00 a.m.
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Kimi Raikkonen: "I am not very happy with the way practice went. This morning we found some good settings for the car, but in the afternoon, we struggled and our lap times reflect that. We must look carefully at the data to work out how to improve the car. We have seen that if we manage to find the right set-up, we have the potential to be competitive."
First practice
Results
1. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:26.461 25
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.948 + 0.487 21
3. Massa Ferrari 1:26.958 + 0.497 25
4. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.114 + 0.653 19
5. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:28.263 + 1.802 18
6. Alonso Renault 1:28.360 + 1.899 22
7. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:28.579 + 2.118 12
8. Glock Toyota 1:28.913 + 2.452 16
9. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:28.957 + 2.496 22
10. Trulli Toyota 1:29.014 + 2.553 23
11. Button Honda 1:29.124 + 2.663 25
12. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:29.230 + 2.769 24
13. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:29.301 + 2.840 5
14. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:29.363 + 2.902 32
15. Barrichello Honda 1:29.533 + 3.072 17
16. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:29.561 + 3.100 7
17. Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:30.155 + 3.694 13
18. Piquet Renault 1:30.357 + 3.896 21
19. Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:31.048 + 4.587 7
20. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:31.771 + 5.310 7
21. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:35.053 + 8.592 3
22. Rosberg Williams-Toyota No time 3
Second practice
Results
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.559 33
2. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:27.473 + 0.914 27
3. Massa Ferrari 1:27.640 + 1.081 29
4. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.683 + 1.124 28
5. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:28.037 + 1.478 26
6. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:28.208 + 1.649 28
7. Trulli Toyota 1:28.292 + 1.733 22
8. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:28.352 + 1.793 31
9. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:28.469 + 1.910 32
10. Glock Toyota 1:28.582 + 2.023 28
11. Button Honda 1:28.632 + 2.073 30
12. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:28.731 + 2.172 32
13. Alonso Renault 1:28.779 + 2.220 37
14. Barrichello Honda 1:28.849 + 2.290 28
15. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:28.860 + 2.301 35
16. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:29.077 + 2.518 33
17. Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:29.161 + 2.602 32
18. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:29.193 + 2.634 40
19. Piquet Renault 1:29.518 + 2.959 14
20. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:29.605 + 3.046 11
21. Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:30.663 + 4.104 16
22. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:31.527 + 4.968 8
3/14/2008 03:18:00 p.m.
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Chris Dyer says his relationship with Kimi is already as close as it was with Schumi. ''At least I hope we're friends. We spend very much time together while working on the track. Our relationship is good outside work too.'' ''I believe I understand Kimi better now than year ago when we were beginning the season. It's perfectly normal when you're working together all time.'' ''Kimi understands clearly how I works and how the team wants to work. That's why everything is now easier, everyone knows the priorities and expectations of how they should work.'' ''That's the strength of Ferrari, has always been. Ferrari has understood, what is important, and has handed out jobs in accordance with that knowledge.''
Dyer wants to end the talks about Kimi beeing unable to give enough information about the car to engineers. ''Kimi is talkative enough on that matter. In the end we of course need some amount of information to test different things and if we wont get them we keep on asking him untill we know what we want.'' ''There's no problems with that subject.''
Dyer says he has learned to read Kimi's facial expressions and knows what he is feeling when they try to find the settings. ''It only a question of how long you've worked together. The longer you have, the more you learn from each other. I'm sure that next year when Kimi returns back to work we've proceeded more and after 2-3 years our realtionship is even stronger.'' ''We all in the team are pleased about the way things have evolved between us, and I suppose it will get even better when we spend more time together and gain more shared experiences.''
40-years old Dyer had a special day some time ago when Kimi and Schumi tested together. ''Yeah it was different, but in the end it wasn't strange in any way. Of course I was acctustomed to working with Michael while he was still racing. But Michael has ended his career and he has done some tests afterwards. I haven't had anything to do with them.'' ''That test in Barcelona was only one work day among other work day among others. Of course a racer will always be a racer. It doesn't matter who's in the next car. Their urge to compete is for ever.''
''They both had their own things to do. We we're doing our own job with Kimi and we really weren't so foolish that we would have done any compromises just to be faster than them.'' ''That day both drivers did their job wonderfully well and we achieved our aims.''
I'm sorry but Kulta has forgotten the crucial verb from this sentence. Anyway the subtitle says ''The new settings an advantage to Kimi''. The sentence is: Chris Dyer do not ---- the claims that Räikkönen could benefit from the ban of the electronical aids. ''When rules change, there's no doubt that some drivers adapt to the new requirements better than others. The rules just fit other talents better than others.'' ''I'm ssure that the new rules will change the balance between some drivers and teams. Only in Melbourne - and maybe even later - we will understand how the change affects.'' ''I see now and understand how Kimi drives. In my opinion he has adapted well and is even more competitive than before.''
''It has been easy to work with Kimi [in this winter], we only had to familiarize us with the new car. He seems to have less pressure. When he came to the team a year ago and inherited the car from Michael, the expectation were terrible and surely the heaviest pressure was laid on him by himself. I'm sure he felt it even though he didn't admit it.''
''He has every right to be more relaxed now when he is the champion and feels home at Ferrari.''
Sursa: Turun Sanomat
Traducere: Lady Feanor
3/13/2008 10:01:00 p.m.
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Tra domande succulenti e quesiti brillanti, ecco Alonso, Hamilton e Raikkonen
di Ronny Mengo
Come antipasto della conferenza una e trina del pomeriggio c'è un estemporaneo faccia a faccia tra Raikkonen e un giornalista australiano in un incontro stampa mattutino. "Qui l'alcolismo è una piaga sociale, ha dei consigli da dare lei che, insomma, se ne intende?" Faccia allibita: "Io bevo solo se c'è un motivo, se ho qualcosa da festeggiare - risponde Kimi - non credo sia associabile a quello che dice lei". Il primo rilancia, il secondo risponde seccato: "Io non devo gestire il mio rapporto con l'alcool e non ho intenzione di perdere altro tempo parlando di cose inesistenti". Poi tutti in circuito per l'appuntamento da non perdere. Eccoli lì. Ore 15 spaccate, saletta ufficiale, tre microfoni Fia davanti. Sono un Raikkonen particolarmente svogliato, un Alonso piuttosto cupo, un Hamilton sovraeccitato.
Sopra ognuno dei tre: cappellini d'ordinanza. Partono delle domande standard (posta dall'addetto della Federazione) che stroncherebbero un bue, perché sentite più o meno durante tutto l'inverno: come cambia la guida senza traction control, come la partenza, e con la pioggia come la mettiamo? I ragazzi invece di mettersi a ridere e cercare una candid camera buttano lì educatamente il minor numero di parole necessario. Sappiamo ad esempio che (per Kimi) l'assenza di elettronica potrà essere un vantaggio ma anche un rischio, bene. Ma dichiarazioni degne di tal nome? La svolta arriva alla domanda doppia "Come sarà la stagione senza il tuo ex compagno di box?" rivolta ovviamente a Fernando e Lewis. "L'anno scorso è stato un privilegio lavorare con lui - parte l'inglese provocando risolini soffusi in sala - e ora è semplicemente diverso come diverso è ogni stagione rispetto alla precedente".
"Sì anch'io ho imparato da Lewis - replica lo spagnolo con un ghigno -: da debuttante ha portato freschezza e nuove idee, un po' come succede oggi con Nelsinho". Mesto uno a uno. Delusione per i registratore-muniti in attesa di fuochi d'artificio. Poi tra un "Daremo il massimo" e un "Aspettiamo e vediamo", frasi preferite dal campione del mondo, vola una confessione alonsiana pure questa già sentita: "Da un po' non mi capitava di non essere nella condizione di vincere la prima gara, ma comunque non mollo". E aggiunge: "La determinazione che ho io e quella che hanno loro ci farà tornare competitivi molto presto". La chiusura va alla solita chicca furba di Hamilton: "La McLaren non può esistere senza Ron Dennis: quelle su di lui erano tutte voci senza senso". Sorrisone, occhiolino.
3/13/2008 09:54:00 p.m.
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DRIVERS: Fernando ALONSO (RENAULT), Lewis HAMILTON (MCLAREN MERCEDES), Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (FERRARI)
Q: Fernando first of all. Back with Renault again. How different is it from the last time you were there?
Fernando ALONSO: Not very different. The technical group is exactly the same, most of the mechanics as well. Not very different to be honest.
Q: After last year do you think they have lost a little confidence?
FA: Maybe a little bit. Of course after winning two years in a row when I left in 2006 they were confident and they were believing in themselves a lot. Now for sure you know no good results last year, maybe a little bit lacking in confidence now but I think they know that were are able and they are able to do good things. They have nothing to prove to anybody, so it is just a matter of time and good work with everybody to put in a better place again.
Q: How much do you feel it is your job to pull them up and get them motivated again?
FA: I will try to do the best job we can. For sure coming back to Renault for me is a great challenge and for them too I think because they are extra motivated this year to have the success we have had in the past and I am extra motivated as well so we all have the same goal and the same target.
Q: What was the biggest difference initially in the cars without engine braking and without engine braking when you first experienced it?
FA: Less than I thought to be honest. The first time I test was in Jerez and I was expecting more problems than we had. Okay, in the long run you feel the drop in the tyres and you feel the loss of traction and the braking stability but nothing too big, similar with some times we had last year as well, so as I said not a big difficulty. But it still does change circuit to circuit and at some circuits there is nearly no difference compared to last year and at some others it is a little bit more, so I imagine that every circuit will be different and maybe Monaco and places like this will be a big difference compared to last year. But we will see.
Q: Has development diminished the difference?
FA: Yes, all the teams are working in that direction to try and get the mechanical side and the aero side to what we lost in terms of electronics, so for sure with the set-up and all the other things around the car we are trying to deal with the loss of the electronics.
Q: And have you changed your driving style to compensate for that as well?
FA: Not really.
Q: Lewis, if I can come to you. First of all tell us about the kayaking yesterday.
Lewis HAMILTON: It was cool. We had some fun.
Q: Give us a race report.
LH: Ok, well Heikki (Kovalainen) got off to a bit of a head start and he looked to be leading the race but he then took the wrong route. The only reason I was turning was someone was turning next to me and helped me turn and somehow I came out in the lead. It was good fun.
Q: Was it cold?
LH: Initially it was but then afterwards it was fine.
Q: Competitive?
LH: I am.
Q: How are you getting on with Heikki?
LH: Really well. Really well. He has settled into the team very well and he seems to be enjoying it. He has been playing tennis and he has been on the fitness trip recently and we seem to get on really well.
Q: Having him as a team-mate the two of you have actually only got one year’s experience each. Has that been a problem so far and will it become a problem in the races do you think?
LH: It’s not been a problem and I don’t think it will be. He has got a great career under his belt already, lots of experience as have I. We are both coming into our second year in F1 and we both have the same hunger for winning and pushing the team forward. I think it is quite good that we are both aiming in the same direction.
Q: Is it a different preparation this year from last year?
LH: No. I think it is better. Better preparation. Last year I and my trainer were both rookies and we did the best job we could which was good but there were areas we could improve on and we have done.
Q: Tell us about the different emotions from a year ago to now. Was there a certain nervousness last year or eagerness? What is it now? Is there more pressure now?
LH: I don’t think there is more pressure, I think there is less pressure than last year. Last year there was a huge build-up and just a lot of weight hanging on my shoulders really because no-one really knew if I was going to do well or what. And neither did I really. It is a slightly different feeling. I think I know even more now knowing what a season feels like. I am even hungrier and I feel even more determined and just more excited about racing. It has been too long a break. It really has seemed to drag along even though the race is a little bit earlier. It just seems forever since we raced last.
Q: Same question to you about traction control. The biggest difference initially in the cars and engine braking. How big was that difference?
LH: It was not really too much of a problem. As I said when they tried to introduce it I thought it was a good idea because all the other categories I have driven in we did not have traction control. I am not going to say if I prefer one to the other because they are both quite different to drive but this one is a challenge and everyone is in the same boat. I think they have done a really good job in working with all the controls but I am sure we will keep on improving.
Q: And development has minimized that difference has it?
LH: It has definitely. So time wise I think you will see that we will all do similar times to when we had traction control.
Q: And driving style?
LH: The same.
Q: You haven’t changed it.
LH: No.
Q: Kimi, again a year ago it was your first Grand Prix for Ferrari. What’s the difference in feeling this year?
Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: For sure it is much easier to come now. It is different because I know the team, know the people, so ... (inaudible) . Last year went very well for us. Now it should be easier as I know the team.
Q: But you are favourite for the championship this year already. Does that put pressure on you?
KR: No, but I think we have not even started the championship yet, so let’s see what happens. We will do the best job we can but for sure we expect to do well in our team. I think the two main teams seem to be a bit ahead of the others and four drivers, so anything can happen.
Q: And of course your team-mate is relatively more experienced than the team-mates of Lewis and Fernando but at the same time you are the most experienced pairing. How does that weigh up? What is the balance in advantages, disadvantages?
KR: I think we have a good team and a very good atmosphere and everything worked well last year, so I think it is going to be similar this year, so I don’t know if we are going to be in a stronger position than the other teams because we have more experience. I don’t think it is going to make much difference but like I said we should be in a good position but it is too early to say really.
Q: And same question about traction control. Was there a big difference in the cars initially?
KR: I think there was a big difference when we tried before Christmas for the first time with last year’s car. It was a lot more difficult but then with the new car we improved in the areas where it was less good and it helped a lot. Now with new tyres you do not feel the difference on the one lap whether you have traction control or not. I think when it is a difficult condition, wet or slippery, then it will be much more tricky but you don’t really notice.
Q: And have you changed your driving style at all to compensate for it?
KR: Not really, no.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) For Lewis, last year you always took time out to sign a few autographs, go to the front of the garage and wave to the crowd. Given that you are much more well-known now and that there are more demands on your time will you still do that or will it be more difficult?
LH: I plan to still do it. I did it this morning and I don’t particularly see why I should change. There has to be a limit otherwise it will go on forever but you just have to know when to say that’s enough but I am still planning to do the same.
Q: (Paulo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Question for the three of you. With the new rules do you think that the start is the main issue at the moment? We don’t exactly know how cars will react and you may lose or gain more positions.
KR: ... (Inaudible) see at the moment much more chance to lose some places now. Before it was more or less automatic. You had a good start or not so good but it was always very close. Now it is up to you and if you make a mistake you are going to be very slow off the grid and you can gain but you can also lose. I think when it is wet conditions it is quite tricky to get a good start.
Q: (MC) Do the track conditions change a great deal, say between the pit-lane exit and the grid itself, especially the amount of grip you get? How much of a difference does that make? Do you know when you arrive on the grid how much grip you are going to get?
KR: It is always a bit different especially (inaudible) ... At some circuits you have better grip on the exit of the pit-lane and at some it is the opposite. You get some idea when we do the warm-up but you just try to make a good start.
Q: (Oliver Holt – The Daily Mirror) Lewis, how disappointed are you that Fernando is not going to be in the team this year, and in what ways is it going to be different without him?
LH: I don’t feel there’s a huge difference. Heikki’s been welcomed into the team as Fernando was. Obviously it’s different; when you have a two-time World Champion, when you come into your first season and someone you’ve been watching for so many years, you come and you work against them - work with them - it’s a privilege. From that point of view, it’s a shame he’s not there but it’s a new challenge for me and Heikki. Having another guy in the team, you always learn something new from a different driver, so I’ve got that opportunity.
Q: (John McEvoy – The Daily Mail) Fernando, to turn it the other way around, how disappointed are you not to have Lewis as a team-mate this year?
FA: Well, more or less the same answer. I have Nelsinho and for sure with new drivers you learn new things. It was the same last year. When I changed and I joined McLaren, Lewis was arriving in the team as well as in Formula One, so always giving fresh ideas and a fresh way to do things and you always learn from everybody. We are not together but we are still racing each other in different teams and with Heikki as well and Nelsinho, with the drivers who have been in Formula One for a long time, now new drivers are coming. Every year is a new challenge.
Q: (John McEvoy – The Daily Mail) A few days ago there were comments by Flavio Briatore – I don’t know whether you saw them, Fernando – saying that he believed that Lewis didn’t show you the respect that he should have done, as a double World Champion. What’s your response to that?
FA: I’ve no response to Flavio’s comment. Flavio will arrive tomorrow, you can ask him.
Q: (John McEvoy – The Daily Mail) Do you agree with him though?
FA: I didn’t see any of these comments.
Q: (John McEvoy – The Daily Mail) Do you believe Lewis did show you the respect he should have done?
FA: I don’t know. I will not answer this question because I never saw that in the paper, I didn’t speak with Flavio about this and I don’t know if it’s true or not. It’s just speculation or rumours about some destructive things before starting the first race so, nothing.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) This is to all of you: It’s going to be very hot during this weekend and especially race day. How different will it be compared to long runs in testing if it’s 39 degrees or something?
LH: I think it’s going to be challenging. In most of the winter testing we did it was quite cool. Coming here, obviously the climate is quite a bit different, so I think it’s going to make it a bit harder on the tyres but easier to warm up and perhaps we will see more graining but I think everyone’s in the same boat. We just have to try and manage it as good as possible. It’s good preparation in this weather for next weekend.
KR: Nobody really knows how it’s going to run. We’ve got a little bit of an idea, it was a little hotter in Bahrain but it’s a completely different circuit, different tyres, so we will do the best that we can and tomorrow we have some idea. I think it should still be OK.
FA: Yeah, we’ll see, we’ll see because normally on a hot track it’s a little bit different, the long runs, the drop of the tyres always seems bigger than in the winter and we will see. We have the same tyres than last year here, but last year was much cooler, so maybe we don’t know how these tyres will work in this temperature on this circuit, so we will see tomorrow. It’s the same for everybody.
Q: (Marco Degl’Innocenti – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, today Ron Dennis said that he misses you and considers you a very great driver. Are you pleased about that?
FA: I really don’t care too much. It seems that Flavio speaks every week, now Ron as well. It’s all OK but it’s not very important to me at the moment. I’m very concentrated on this first race. We still have to do a lot of work on the car if we want to be competitive enough to fight for races, victories, so I really don’t care what people say.
Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speedsport News) Fernando, as you said, you have a lot of work to do. For the last three years you’ve had a car that could win races and championships. What does it do to your motivation now to have to take this step back?
FA: Yeah, we will see. I think we need to see where we are because it’s not so clear after the winter tests which are the best cars out there. It seems that, OK, Ferrari, McLaren and maybe BMW are very strong, as they were last year but there is Williams, Red Bull, Renault, Toyota. At some tests, some of the teams look better; at the next test it’s the opposite, so I’m really looking forward to Saturday afternoon to see all the qualifying and see where we are. After that, we will see what we can do. For sure the last three years, as you said, I started with maybe a more competitive car and ready to win races from the first Grand Prix. It seems that maybe that’s not the case this year but I will not give up. It’s a very long championship and there’s time to recover. I have full confidence in our possibilities.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado do Sao Paulo) The question is to all drivers: Even if this season didn’t start yet, everyone is discussing 2009 when we will probably have a severe limitation on budgets, probably forty percent of what the teams will spend this year. Do you agree with the way Formula One is going?
FA: I really don’t know. I’m not very interested in these rules or these budget cuts or whatever. I think if it’s the best thing and all the teams agree on this matter it’s because they think it is the best for our future. That’s all. I think from the driver’s point of view, as long as we have a car in our hands and we are able to drive and enjoy our racing, the rest is not very important.
KR: I don’t know anything about the whole thing, so I can’t really comment.
LH: Similar to what Fernando said. I think every year we face a change in the regulations and if that’s what they feel is the best way to go then we can do nothing about it, we just have to deal with it and as Fernando said, as long as we’ve got the car, as drivers, we don’t mind. We deal with it whatever you throw at us.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi, do you think McLaren without Fernando is weaker than last year and it could be an advantage for Ferrari, or do you think that Lewis, even though he only has one year, has the experience now to make the car develop?
KR: I don’t know. For sure, I don’t see that Fernando is any quicker. He probably won’t have as good a car this year as he had last year. McLaren, I don’t know how good they are, it’s difficult to say from the winter, so we will see in the first two races. I think there are a lot of people who know what they are doing, so I don’t see that there is any limit why they shouldn’t lose something, or not be able to make the car faster. It’s a big team, it’s one of the best teams, so I expect them to be strong and giving us a hard time.
Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) There is not a lot that the driver can do from the time when the last winter test was over to the day racing starts here. How did you spend those days between and did you have any holidays?
LH: I left Switzerland and stopped in Hong Kong for two days and just did a little bit of shopping just to break up the trip – bit of sight-seeing. Then I went to Brisbane for a day as my trainer is from Brisbane, so we spent a day with his family. We had a barbecue and just relaxed and then I went to the Gold Coast. I did some training up there, it’s really good weather, like it is here, so running along the beaches, playing tennis and just having fun, and then I came here on Monday.
KR: I was at home, to see my friends and family, and then came here on Monday, that’s about it.
FA: Same thing. I was at home with family and came here on Monday.
3/13/2008 07:53:00 p.m.
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