Q. How was the first corner from your point of view?

Kimi Raikkonen: I got a pretty good start and got into the first place but then braking into the first corner I was trying to turn in and there was first one McLaren and then a second and I think they both hit me and I had nowhere to go. I needed to go straight and I lost many places and got some damage in the front but luckily enough I was able to get back on the circuit but then I was all the time behind people. I was catching up and getting past some people but then just before the pit stop I was behind Robert and then I was fighting against him and in the last stint I got a few tries to get past him but I always caught him just in the last part of the circuit, the main straight, and he always went on the inside, so I didn’t have anywhere to go, so I tried the outside and then the inside and once we were side by side but I knew that if nobody was going to lift in corner three, I had no options than to run off the circuit. I tried but then my tyres started to grain a bit and his started to clean up, so I lost a bit of an opportunity there. It is a bit disappointing what happened in the first corner as we could have had a better result but at least I got to the finish this time and got some good points for the team and we will try to do better next race.

Q. There was some damage to the left front wheel. What did the car feel like in those few laps?

KR: The front didn’t feel the same anymore. I think it was Heikki who hit me harder. The front felt quite light, it didn’t feel the same as before but I didn’t know. I asked if we had damaged something but I couldn’t see what happened really. The car was okay but for sure we were missing something as we were not able to be fast enough to catch up with the guys in the front. Just before the second pit stop I was stuck behind, I think, Barrichello for one lap and I lost like a second or something and it was just enough to get me behind Robert after the stop. But in the end it was quite a difficult race but we got third place, so hopefully we can start scoring better from here.

Q. Kimi, the performance seemed to be very much up and down during the race?

KR: Yeah, a bit but then when you’re behind people it’s very tricky, the tyres don’t last as well and the car doesn’t work as well as if you’re on your own. Overall it wasn’t too bad, we got six points but we definitely wanted to challenge for the win. It already went away in the first corner when the McLaren came and I had nowhere to go and I had to go straight on and they hit me. After that I was always trying to recover and you know that the people who started behind you often have a bit more fuel, so in this kind of place it’s hard to improve but we did the best that we could, not as quick in the race as we were hoping but that was the end result today.

Q. What about your battle with Robert and you also had Nelson behind you?

KR: Yeah, I think he caught us because we were fighting together but two or three times I had the chance to get past him, I just caught him in the last part of the straight but he always defended on the inside, so I didn’t have much choice. I needed to go outside, try to cut inside. One lap I managed to get on the inside of him on the exit of corner two. I was a bit ahead of him in corner three but he was inside and I was outside, so I knew that if we were both pushing one hundred percent in the corner, I would only have one way to go and that was running off the circuit, so I tried but then after that I got some graining on the tyres and his tyres cleaned up, so the chance was there but I couldn’t get by him. It would have been nice to be second but at least we got some valuable points for the team. McLaren didn’t score any points and I think we scored seven points, so it wasn’t too bad overall. I’m definitely a bit disappointed because being in first place in the first corner but then being pushed out didn’t help and being in the front could have given us a better result but anyhow, that’s racing.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q. (Fréderic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Kimi and Robert: you’re still in the battle for the championship, how do you rate your chances?

KR: I don’t even know the points’ situation now. There’s always a chance. It’s not going to be easy but we saw today that the guys in front of us were quite excited. Anything can happen, they can crash again and we could end up in front. But I’m in the worst position out of the four guys. I saw last year that things can go right or wrong, so we keep pushing and trying.

Q. (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) To Robert and Kimi: you had a similar fight in Hockenheim with bad tyres. How hard is it to keep Kimi behind and for Kimi: is Robert the most difficult guy to try to overtake?

KR: I think all of them are more or less similar. Some are a bit more aggressive but it depends a lot on how your car is handling at that stage of the race and on different circuits. Sometimes you have a lot of difficulties and sometimes it’s easier to get past people but I think the differences are not very big and on this kind of circuit, you probably have one or two places to overtake. I couldn’t get close enough, early enough. It was a good fight but I lost it, so next time I try again.

Q. (Fréderic Ferret – L’Equipe) Kimi, were you surprised to be doing the same lap times as Robert ahead of you in the second stint? Do you think that had something to do with the damage to the front end of the car?

KR: As I said, we hoped to have a little more speed today. I was catching up sometimes and just as the car started to get a bit better I got stuck behind Barrichello in the first part of the lap. I lost around a second at least. It was a crucial moment. And then at the end, just before the pit stop, I caught up Robert a lot but it was a bit too late. It was a close fight but I just didn’t have the speed to beat him today. For sure, we expected to have a faster car in the race but it didn’t happen today.

Q. (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) To all drivers: the stewards decided to give Lewis Hamilton a drive-through penalty for what happened at the start. Do you consider that was fair?

KR: I don’t know. I didn’t see the whole thing. I only saw him when he came up next to me. I’m not sure if he hit me or not but they make their decisions, so I have nothing against it