Hot on the heels of strong speculation that Fernando Alonso has penned a Ferrari agreement for 2010, it is being rumoured again that the Italian team's current star driver Kimi Raikkonen could be soon to retire.
The reports, suggesting that the 28-year-old reigning world champion will not renew his contract beyond next year, appeared on Friday in the German language newspapers Rheinischen Post and TZ.
Rheinischen Post claims that Raikkonen, the laconic Finn, told some friends at a party recently that he does not intend to spend much longer as a Grand Prix racer.
"Kimi loves the driving and hates everything else about Formula One," one of Raikkonen's apparent friend is quoted as telling TZ.
"The public appearances, the life under the spotlight - he doesn't have the desire anymore," the unnamed friend reportedly added.
5/30/2008 08:16:00 p.m.
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Fernando Alonso believes arch-rival Lewis Hamilton cannot win the Formula One drivers' championship despite the Briton topping the points standings.
Hamilton's victory in Monaco last Sunday saw him move ahead of reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, but Alonso believes the Ferrari duo are still strong favourites.
"I see the favourites still as the two Ferraris, by a long way. I don't think Hamilton can win it," Alonso told Cadena SER radio.
"It is too early to say where the world championship is going. The lead at the top of drivers' standings is changing hands after every race - even [Robert] Kubica in fourth place is just a stone's throw away."
Alonso clashed with Hamilton last season when the pair were McLaren team-mates, and their bitter rivalry led to the Spaniard's return to Renault, where he won the 2005 and 2006 world title.
The pair swapped the lead in the standings several times last season, only for Raikkonen to pip them at the post after Hamilton threw away a 17-point lead over the Finn in the final two races.
Alex Chick / Eurosport
5/29/2008 08:20:00 p.m.
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Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali was in upbeat mood despite a disappointing result for the Scuderia in Monaco.
Ferrari claimed the front row of the grid in qualifying but collected just six points from Felipe Massa's third place, as world champion Kimi Raikkonen finished a lowly ninth.
"After a great qualifying it was easy for us to act like prophets foreseeing a possible lottery for the race given the weather forecast," said Domenicali.
"We cannot deny we are disappointed, with the result a combination of errors on our part and bad luck.
"We got off on the wrong foot, with an infringement of the rules in preparing Kimi's car on the grid minutes before the start resulting in a drive-through penalty.
"Then we decided to switch our strategy, going for a one-stop race on the basis that we expected the rain to return and this did not happen.
"With hindsight, it is easy to say we should have made different choices, but the reality is that at every level we did not meet our usual high standards."
Healthy
However, Domenicali maintains the picture is a healthy one for the team.
"We have taken four wins and the same number of poles from six races and we are still solidly in the lead of the Constructors' classification," he added.
"Now we must look ahead and get as well prepared as possible for the Canadian Grand Prix.
"In Monaco, we showed we were capable of fighting for the lead and we want to do the same in Montreal, another track that did not suit us so well last year."
5/28/2008 08:32:00 p.m.
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Kimi Raikkonen has apologised to Force India's Adrian Sutil after bringing the young German's Monaco dream crashing down to earth with just a handful of laps to run.
The pair were running fourth and fifth, Sutil ahead, as the race resumed after the second safety car period, only for the world champion to make an error coming out of the tunnel and slam into the back of the Ferrari-engined Force India at the entrance to the chicane. Although Raikkonen was able to resume, eventually finishing ninth, out of the points, after pitting for a new front wing, Sutil's race was over with suspension and diffuser damage.
“I said I am sorry for him and his team because, probably, they are not going to be often in the position to score a fourth position," Raikkonen was quoted by AFP, “Plus it was in Monaco, so it was harder for him than for me. But it was a racing incident and I could not go anywhere. There wasn't much space and I could not slow down."
Indeed, the accident was not due to Raikkonen running too hot into the braking zone, or misjudging an overtaking attempt. The Ferrari snapped into a tankslapper at the crest before the road falls away to the chicane, and the world champion was unable to prevent it from hitting the back of Sutil's car. The incident bore similarities to David Coulthard's qualifying shunt, where the Scot had his Red Bull veer right into the barriers - on a completely dry track - writing off its right-hand side and sending DC spearing down the escape road with little retardation
“It was just a racing incident," the Finn repeated, "I just locked the rear brakes on the bump and you cannot really slow the car after that. There was nowhere to go, and not enough space to try and avoid him. Basically, I just think my brakes were a bit too cold and I locked the rear.
[via Crash]
The pair were running fourth and fifth, Sutil ahead, as the race resumed after the second safety car period, only for the world champion to make an error coming out of the tunnel and slam into the back of the Ferrari-engined Force India at the entrance to the chicane. Although Raikkonen was able to resume, eventually finishing ninth, out of the points, after pitting for a new front wing, Sutil's race was over with suspension and diffuser damage.
“I said I am sorry for him and his team because, probably, they are not going to be often in the position to score a fourth position," Raikkonen was quoted by AFP, “Plus it was in Monaco, so it was harder for him than for me. But it was a racing incident and I could not go anywhere. There wasn't much space and I could not slow down."
Indeed, the accident was not due to Raikkonen running too hot into the braking zone, or misjudging an overtaking attempt. The Ferrari snapped into a tankslapper at the crest before the road falls away to the chicane, and the world champion was unable to prevent it from hitting the back of Sutil's car. The incident bore similarities to David Coulthard's qualifying shunt, where the Scot had his Red Bull veer right into the barriers - on a completely dry track - writing off its right-hand side and sending DC spearing down the escape road with little retardation
“It was just a racing incident," the Finn repeated, "I just locked the rear brakes on the bump and you cannot really slow the car after that. There was nowhere to go, and not enough space to try and avoid him. Basically, I just think my brakes were a bit too cold and I locked the rear.
[via Crash]
5/27/2008 08:23:00 p.m.
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Q. Are you pleased with the good showing or just totally disappointed with the outcome?
Colin Kolles: I am definitely disappointed, but at least for Adrian and the team we showed that in equal conditions (mixed) that we can be very competitive. Unfortunately we have to improve our car, we are not (normally) at that level. But we always have races like this and it's traditional for our team that we are there.
Q. When did you realise that this race could be something special?
CK: I knew it this morning because I was completely confident, like I was here last year and as I was in Fuji. I know the abilities of the team and I know the abilities of the driver, even in a less competitive car.
Q. What is your take on Adrian's accident with Kimi. Is anyone to blame?
CK: I don't have to blame Kimi. He did a mistake, it's a race incident and there's nothing more to say? It's unfortunate that it was Kimi, who is a friend, that it happened with him. But what can I say, that's life!"
Q. What was your reaction when it happened?
CK: Shit! And then I hoped, because it looked as if he could continue, I hoped that there was nothing damaged. So we had some communication on the radio together, but then he said that he had a puncture. Unfortunately it was not only a puncture, the whole suspension broke.
5/26/2008 08:36:00 p.m.
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Q. Has it been a bad grand prix for you from the start?
Kimi Raikkonen: Yes. It was not one of the best races, but that is racing - sometimes it goes right and sometimes it goes wrong. I made some mistakes and the team made some mistakes, and we paid the price. But we will go to the next race and hope to do better.
Q. What about the incident with Adrian Sutil?
KR: Basically I just think my brakes were a bit too cold and I locked the rear. I nearly lost the car but unfortunately I hit him – and it is sad for them because they are not very often in the position to finish in the points. So, I feel a bit sorry for him – but I could not do anything. I tried to slow down but there was nowhere to go and nowhere to slow down – and I lost fifth place.
Q. It was a bad race for Ferrari, in terms of finishing positions and the fact that Lewis Hamilton is now leading the championship once again...
KR: Yeah, I mean it has not been a perfect weekend for us, and we are not leading the championship any more. But we have been in much worse situations before and it is not the end of the world. There are so many races to go, and so many things can happen still. I think we have good speed in the car as long as we get everything right – and today everything that could go wrong did go wrong. It is a shame, but that is racing.
Q. Did you misjudge your braking distance with Adrian?
KR: I don't think so. It was just a racing incident. I just locked the rear brakes on the bump and you cannot really slow the car after that. There was nowhere to go, and not enough space to try and avoid him.
Q. There was also the incident at the beginning of the race with your tyres. What happened there? Was it a late call?
KR: It wasn't a late call. We started to put the tyres on earlier than the others, but unfortunately they had some problems with the wheel nut on one of the rear wheels and they could not get the wheel nut on. By the time they got the new one on it was under three minutes, so from that moment on it started to go wrong. And after that, everything went wrong. It was a shame that we lost four points, because it can make a big difference, but these things happen.
Q. Why was your race pace so far off today?
KR: I just couldn't get the tyres working. After the safety cars, unfortunately we had the drive through and that made it difficult again. It just wasn't a very easy day.
Q. Do you feel sorry for Adrian about what happened?
KR: It is the same in my career. I would also like to have had the four points but as I said, he is not often going to be in that position to score a fourth place and for sure it was more painful for him than it was for me, and I am sorry for it. But for sure if I could have, I would have preferred not to hit him.
Q. Was this one of the worst races of your life?
KR: Well, I don't think it is the worst race. I did good races and others where I didn't finish one lap. So today, many things happened and it went wrong already in the first part – but unfortunate things happen. I made a mistake and we made a mistake together.
It is not what we wanted, but it is not the end of my life. I am not going to start crying and shouting. This is an early part of the season and so far the season has been pretty good, and at some point you are going to have bad times. But at least we had a little bit of gap to the others so it didn't hurt too much really – I am only a few points behind Lewis. It is the early season still and last year we were much further away.
Q. If you could say something to Adrian Sutil, what would you say?
KR: I said it already – I said I am sorry for him and his team because probably they are not going to be often in the position to score a fourth position. Plus it was in Monaco. So it was harder for him than for me, but it was a racing incident and I could not go anywhere. There wasn't much space and I could not slow down.
Q. Have you spoken to Adrian?
KR: No, I haven't seen him but when I see him I will say sorry. So probably a bit hard for him, but it is racing and you learn from it.
Q. Without traction control, how was it out there?
KR: It was difficult in wet conditions, but for me at least it was difficult to get the tyres working in the beginning. But you need to be careful, and unfortunately I made some mistakes.
5/25/2008 08:39:00 p.m.
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Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA
Drivers: 1st Felipe Massa (Ferrari), 1m15.787s; 2nd Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), 1m15.815s; 3rd Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), 1m15.839s.
Q: Felipe, you have got a big smile on your face and I guess it is that before qualifying you said you don’t really like this place.
Felipe Massa: I still cannot believe that I am on pole. It is unbelievable. I was pushing very hard to learn how to drive here because it was the place where I struggled every time I came here. On the first day I was still a little bit concerned on the second sector but then I managed to put everything together to learn some tricks in some corners and also having a great car. I still can’t believe I am on pole.
Q: Talk us through those closing minutes and how late in Q3 that you got that lap in.
FM: I did the first try and it was not a bad lap. I saw I was missing some time in a couple of corners. I saw the lap time was not that so far away from Kimi and Lewis. I think I was a couple of tenths over. I knew I was able to improve a little bit but I was thinking they would improve a little bit as well but I improved a lot and I was able to do a perfect lap and in Monaco it is almost impossible to do a perfect lap. It is becoming good here as well.
Q: Was there one aspect of the lap in particular that you found the time?
FM: I think everywhere. I already braked quite late in turn one and turn one was never a good corner for me or for us compared to McLaren. I braked very late but then I saw that the car stopped and I managed to get a good exit as well, so then I said ‘ok, I’ve got to push all through the lap’ because it has to be like that at every corner otherwise you can maybe lose two-tenths very easily. I managed to do everything the same in every corner and I am pole.
Q: Kimi, congratulations on an all Ferrari front row. Talk us through Q3 from your point of view.
Kimi Raikkonen: It was okay the first run. The second run was also not too bad but I just took it a bit too easy in the first corner and lost some time compared to the first try. Then I managed to do a good lap apart from the first few corners but it was not enough and here it is not a good thing but tomorrow we will probably have really difficult conditions, so it is going to be good fun.
Q: What was the tyre situation like today?
KR: For me really the tyres have been working well. It is just a bit difficult to get the first lap out of them but apart from that they have worked really well.
Q: Ferrari have shown phenomenal pace and reliability over the last four races and you have always been very quick in slow corners. What was the feeling coming in to Monaco this year?
KR: For sure we didn’t really know what to expect as last year was difficult for us here and some other races. But we improved the car where we needed. Before we came here we were not 100 per cent sure how we were going to do. It looks like we made a good step and we are able to challenge for wins, so that is a good thing.
Q: Lewis, I guess you must be disappointed but I guess you must be thinking about strategy and what fuel loads everybody is running?
Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, absolutely. I think we did a solid job. For sure we anticipated we would be a little bit quicker. I guess we were surprised by the Ferraris’ pace. Both my laps were quite good. I was quite happy with the way the whole session went. There were no problems with traffic. We lost a little bit in the last sector but generally the car felt good and I felt I strung together two solid laps but the time just wasn’t there. But still I am happy with the strategy we are on, so tomorrow we should see how we do.
Q: Can you pinpoint perhaps where you might have been losing time in sectors two and three?
LH: I think in sector two we lose out a lot on traction, probably going up the straight out of turn eight and up through the tunnel to the chicane and then in the last sector I think in the last couple of corners I am not able to brake as late as we would hope.
Q: What does that mean from a driver’s point of view round Monte Carlo as obviously you are on the limit and you are almost scraping those walls but you are having to allow for that slight difference in performance between the two cars.
LH: I think in practice doing your lap is quite easy and I was able to push when I wanted, so we felt quite confident that we would have the pace. This was more having to be more on the limit in Q3 but the car wasn’t happy but we will push really hard in the race and I am sure we will be able to compete.
Q: Felipe, the job is half-over. The last time a Ferrari driver won from pole was Jody Scheckter in 1979. There are other factors for tomorrow with possible changes in the weather conditions. Your thoughts going into the race?
FM: For sure tomorrow will be another day and it will be very tough because we have a lot of possible problems in front of us. The rain could come at any time and the race in Monaco is the most difficult one to keep on the track and with a good pace because you are very close to the wall all the time. Whatever comes into your mind maybe can be enough for retirement. I am looking forward to having a great day tomorrow and be clever in whatever condition we approach.
Q: What would it mean to win the Monaco Grand Prix?
FM: It would be a fantastic day. It is already a fantastic day to be on pole but tomorrow would be even more incredible.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Felipe, how much do you put this down to the preparation you did in Paul Ricard last week?
FM: Zero. No preparation in Ricard. It was raining all day long, so we didn’t do anything there.
Q: Not you necessarily but the team as a whole.
FM: Kimi did a good job in testing. He was pretty happy with the car. I trust him as he is a good driver, so we had a good car as well. The team did a great job on the preparation for Monaco and also finding the right set-up because we were always struggling a lot here.
Q: And the prospects of wet weather tomorrow? Did that enter into the thinking of the tactics for qualifying?
FM: I am sure it will be very difficult tomorrow. We could have the rain anytime. It is better to start at the front, definitely. But we need to be clever whatever circumstance we get tomorrow as here in Monaco even in good conditions it is already quite difficult to have 78 laps in a good pace and concentrated, so it will be hard day tomorrow. But I am very pleased with my day.
Q: And obviously you are on a roll at the moment having won two of the last three races.
FM: It is a great time for me. For sure it is two completely different tracks compared to Turkey but I am very happy that I could show that I can be competitive in Monaco.
Q: Kimi, you were very quick early on, in fact your Q3 time is only about a tenth slower than your Q1 time. How do you explain that?
KR: Usually we get the tyres working better when we put fuel in. It’s nothing surprising for us, at least. It seems to help the tyres to get in the right condition when we put fuel in and the car seems to get better, but still, it wasn’t exactly what we were hoping for. Anyhow, we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.
Q: You’re a former winner here, what chances tomorrow?
KR: I think it’s going to depend a lot on what kind of weather conditions we get tomorrow. If it’s raining, then nobody knows what’s going to happen, but in dry conditions, it’s very tricky to get past, so the race can get very boring. If it’s raining, there’s a much bigger chance to have many changes but I think we have a good car for the race, so we must see what we can do.
Q: To what extent does the weather, tyre choice – because some people did one stop last year, some did two – fuel load, etc, how much does that affect qualifying?
KR: Of course it always depends on how much fuel everyone is running, especially if it rains, probably you can do different things but it’s not much more different here than any other race. Usually at the front, everybody more or less has the same fuel, so I don’t think that we’re going to see any amazing differences.
Q: Lewis, a circuit you love, I believe, you still love it?
LH: Yeah, of course, still my favourite track. I think it’s because I’ve always been fond of street circuits and it’s one of those tracks where you could probably make more of a difference than others.
Q: Ferrari described your tactics in Turkey as being quite aggressive, is that something we’re going to see more of in the races to come?
LH: Well, not really, considering there was a reason why we had to do that, wasn’t there? We won’t have the tyre problem, so it should be fine.
Q: The tyre choice here, with one stop, two stops, the weather, it’s a complicated situation, isn’t it?
LH: It is, but the great thing is that we had a dry qualifying and we felt that we had a good car and to be honest, the lap was quite good, but as you can see, it was very close. We don’t know what they’re doing with their strategy but we feel quite confident with ours and we just have to wait and see tomorrow but I’m sure it’s going to be raining tomorrow, so it will be very very tricky for all of us.
Q: Does the strategy only get complicated when you know what the weather’s going to do?
LH: I don’t think it gets complicated at all. I think we’re all probably on very similar strategies, so it’s not going to make much difference.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Felipe, you said in the unilaterals that you found certain tricks to get round the corners. How was your approach different this year to the previous years, so you were able to use those tricks?
FM: The approach was not so different. The approach in terms of how we prepared for the weekend, in terms of programme, that was pretty similar, but the approach in terms of set-up was pretty different, because over the last few years we were struggling a lot here and we know we have a good car, so we were working completely differently on the set-up for this track. I think that was a great move from the team. Straight away after last year, when we had a problem in this race, and also in Montreal, which is also a low grip surface, we already started working with the team on the ideas for the year after in terms of set-up. For sure that was a good move because it started on the first day and straight away I had a better car. And then it was just learning some things during the weekend, with the track improving and everything, so I think I was able to get the maximum out of the car and myself as well.
Q: (Malcolm Folley – The Mail on Sunday) Lewis, forgive me for not knowing, but have you driven around here in the wet in other formulae and if not, is there any way that you’ve been able to simulate driving a street circuit in the wet?
LH: I don’t know how we’d simulate it in the wet but I think I drove here last year in the wet, and I’ve only driven 2005 and 2006 and they were both dry, so as far as I can remember, no.
Q: (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) Lewis, given how vital it is to be on pole here, deep down, does this really come as a disappointment today, not being there?
LH: I wouldn’t say it comes as a disappointment. I think, at the end of the day, I’m here in Monaco, I’m on the second row, I’m P3 and I think that I’m in a strong position still for tomorrow. Obviously being on pole would have been better but we only just missed it. We obviously need to go and understand why we struggled with the pace throughout qualifying, because after practice, the car was feeling quite easy to drive whereas in qualifying it was a bit different, so we have to analyse and understand exactly why that is, but I still feel, especially with the conditions changing tomorrow, that we should be in for an exciting race.
Q: (Andrew Frankl – Forza) Felipe, Ayrton won here six times, Bruno yesterday, there are a lot of Brazilians in the pit lane, all over the place. Is there special inspiration for you coming from this fantastic support?
FM: For sure. I still remember like yesterday watching Ayrton on this track. I think he was the most impressive driver here, in terms of pole position all the time, winning many races in a row, maybe five, I guess, then sleeping in the next race and crashing when first, one minute in front of Prost. So I think he was definitely the most incredible driver on this track. Bruno won yesterday. I am very happy for him. I’m sure the whole of Brazil and many Brazilian people were very happy because he looks very similar to Ayrton, and it was very nice to see him winning a great race, so hopefully he can be here with us in the future. I think it’s fantastic to have a lot of Brazilian people here, great support. It’s still not one of my favourite tracks but I’m starting to like the track more day-by-day.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Felipe, you lead Kimi 5-1 in qualifying; where does this impressive record come from, have you improved as a qualifier?
FM: Last year I set a lot of pole positions as well. I was very strong in qualifying but this year I’m very comfortable in the car and find the right lap at the right time, so let’s hope we carry on like that.
Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Kimi, in Turkey, it was quite a big disadvantage to start on the dirty side of the track. How do you see it here?
KR: I think maybe it’s the same, maybe not. I don’t think it’s such a big difference here, because the cars go a bit everywhere on the main straight, so probably it will be more or less the same.
Q: (Bob McKenzie – The Daily Express) Lewis, I just wondered if, when you saw one Ferrari in front of you, it was a bit of a blow, but when you saw two in front, when Felipe went ahead, what was your thinking then, were you as disappointed as Kimi probably was?
LH: No, I finished my lap and as I said, I felt quite comfortable with it. I was just waiting for the guys to come back on the radio and tell me if it was good enough or not and they came across and said ‘you’re P3.’ I wasn’t disappointed with it to be honest. I didn’t know whether we were going to be able to get pole position and to be honest, I was happy to at least get third, because I thought perhaps we would maybe have been a little bit lower.
Q: (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) Lewis, are you slowly now starting to become increasingly worried about the pace of the Ferraris, particularly bearing in mind that this was a track where McLaren were expected to do well?
LH: I don’t get worried and I don’t think we particularly get worried. Obviously it’s a concern and it’s something that we understand and we need to try and push and work forward to improve. We’re quick, as you can see, we’re very very close and I think we just have to keep on pushing, but they’re obviously a lot quicker here than they were last year. We have to see what strategy they are on. It appears this year that a lot of people are going very very aggressive on strategies nowadays, so we will wait and see what they are up to.
Q: (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) Felipe, bearing in mind your form over the last three races, and the fact that you’ve now just qualified on pole on a track that you really don’t like, are you starting to believe now that perhaps you can become World Champion this year?
FM: I always believed that. It’s not because I’m starting in the front that I changed my mind. I always believe that. I was champion in every category that I drove, so let’s try, let’s keep trying. For sure it’s my dream and I will not give up, I will push hard to the limit, day-by-day, to try to become a World Champion, like all of these guys close to me. In the end, to be World Champion, it doesn’t matter if you are just quick. You need to be quick, consistent and you need to be lucky and you need to finish most of the races with more points. I think we are on the right track. Let’s keep working.
Q: (Sven Heidinger – Sport Woche) Felipe, you were talking about the improvements to the car that you made in comparison to last year, that might be vital in Montreal as well as here, so in which areas are these improvements?
FM: I think you want to know too much! It’s just normal working, day-by-day in the factory and trying to work on the car, having a better car over the kerbs, having better traction which pays off on these tracks.
5/24/2008 08:51:00 p.m.
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World champion Kimi Raikkonen will be hoping that he set the tone for the weekend after topping the timesheets in Thursday’s first practice session ahead of the weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s Raikkonen was fastest ahead of Championship rival Lewis Hamilton of McLaren, with the Briton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen in third one place clear of Felipe Massa.
The morning rain hampered the efforts of the drivers as a 16-minute stoppage interrupted the session, a long red flag holding competitors off as a loose drain cover on the hill out of Sainte Devote was attended to.
The session was allowed to resume for the final 21 minutes in which Raikkonen made his move to usurp the lead that Hamilton had held before the restart and indeed improved on just after it.
Position Driver Team Time Gap
1. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:15.948
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.216 + 0.268
3. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.248 + 0.300
4. Massa Ferrari 1:16.292 + 0.344
5. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:16.653 + 0.705
6. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:16.834 + 0.886
7. Alonso Renault 1:17.498 + 1.550
8. Barrichello Honda 1:17.511 + 1.563
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:17.798 + 1.850
10. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:17.835 + 1.887
11. Glock Toyota 1:17.942 + 1.994
12. Button Honda 1:18.153 + 2.205
13. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:18.245 + 2.297
14. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:18.263 + 2.315
15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:18.274 + 2.326
16. Trulli Toyota 1:18.360 + 2.412
17. Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:18.360 + 2.412
18. Piquet Renault 1:18.955 + 3.007
19. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:19.176 + 3.228
20. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault No time
5/23/2008 08:55:00 p.m.
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Kimi Raikkonen - 3rd: "I would say this was a normal day of free practice. We went quite well, especially on used tyres in the morning. But we struggled a bit to do a time on new tyres in the second session and now we have to look at the data carefully to understand how to improve.
"There is plenty of time to do that and so I am not particularly worried, at least at the moment. A wet race? It would make matters complicated but it would be the same for everyone."
5/22/2008 08:41:00 p.m.
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Kimi Raikkonen knows it will once again be a very close battle between the top three teams at this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.
With overtaking virtually impossible on the streets of Monte Carlo, all drivers will be going full out to start the race from pole.
Raikkonen finished a disappointing eighth at last year's Monaco GP, but he is confident Ferrari will put up a better showing this time round.
Speaking on his official website, the Finn said: "Obviously, we struggled last year in Monaco, but I feel Ferrari have really improved in many areas that we were weaker at last year.
"I always aim to win and that's my intention going into the Monaco weekend.
"The race will be very open. I feel Ferrari is very competitive with the main competition coming from McLaren and BMW.
"That said, Monaco can throw up a strange result so it's the most open of all the races this year.
"With everybody being so close - especially in qualifying - it's important to have a good weekend, so that you are able to fine tune the car to the circuit.
"To quality well is always important, but, probably, in Monaco it's a priority."
5/21/2008 08:53:00 p.m.
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Kimi Raikkonen expects Ferrari to be very competitive at the Monaco Grand Prix, as he reckons the Italian squad have taken a step forward at slow tracks.
Last year, the Maranello squad were unable to match the pace of rivals McLaren at Monte Carlo, where Ferrari have not won since the 2001 season with Michael Schumacher.
But following last week's test at Paul Ricard, Raikkonen believes his team have made progress on tracks like Monte Carlo and he is expecting Ferrari to be very strong this time out.
"It (the test) went very well," said Raikkonen, who arrived in Monaco in the lead of the championship, seven points ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa.
"We tried a few new components and improved the set-up. The car is stronger at this type of circuit - slow and bendy - compared to last year. I think that Ferrari has made a big step forward in the areas where we weren't strong last year.
"It's difficult to say how it will go in the end. Ferrari will be very competitive, but there's also McLaren and BMW. Having said that Monaco, can always be good for a surprise; it's the most open of all the races this year.
"Last year we only got one point here in Monaco. I wasn't happy that day. But in the end it was a very precious point for me," added the Finn, who won the title by one point last year.
The Ferrari driver insisted it will be crucial to avoid trouble during Friday's practice in order to have a competitive weekend.
"In Turkey we missed the most important practice session," he said. "This time we hope that we can work without any problems. Especially with everybody being so close, and especially in qualifying is very important to set a fast lap.
"Overtaking is almost impossible, so the car has to be set up really well. It feels great to do a fast lap here in Monaco, but to do that you need to be in the front. It's important to qualify well.
"In Monaco this is a priority. I always
5/20/2008 08:46:00 p.m.
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5/19/2008 08:48:00 p.m.
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5/19/2008 08:19:00 p.m.
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I always prefer to look forwards rather than back, defending champ and current points' leader insists.
After what he claims was his fourth problem-afflicted grand prix weekend out of five so far in 2008 in Turkey, Kimi Raikkonen is looking to have a more straightforward outing in Monaco - a circuit where Ferrari struggled this time last year.
The Finn finished third in Istanbul last weekend, having never really looked on the leading pace of team-mate Felipe Massa throughout. That reduced his advantage in the drivers' title chase to seven points over Massa and McLaren-Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, who pipped him to the chequered flag in Turkey by a mere half a second.
"I like to play golf," Raikkonen reflected, "and after the Turkish Grand Prix I had the same feeling like having a bogey. I came to Istanbul leading by nine points and now I'm seven ahead. Not much changed.
"I had a really difficult weekend. It started with a problem - when something was wrong with the gear shifting in the first session of free practice - and went on with another. Fortunately in the end I did not finish too badly.
"I wanted to fight for a win, but that's racing. Sometimes it just goes wrong from the very beginning of the weekend, so you concentrate on saving as much as you can, just like I did in Turkey. I can't be too disappointed about third spot, considering what happened at the start [when he came together with Heikki Kovalainen in the first corner].
"Afterwards it's always easy to say what we could have done, but I never do that and this case is closed."
Looking ahead now, the 28-year-old is evidently keen to enjoy a more competitive showing around the tortuous streets of the Principality in just over a week's time, after he crashed in qualifying last year - leaving him down in 16th on the starting grid - and could only scrape eighth place in the race, on a weekend when the scarlet machines were fairly blown into the weeds by the Silver Arrows. He is hoping for better fortunes this time around, and has already had a taste of victory champagne in the race referred to as the jewel in Formula 1's crown when he triumphed there for McLaren in 2005.
"So far the only the weekend in Barcelona was without any problems," Raikkonen mused of his 2008 campaign to-date. "I hope that the next one will be at Monte Carlo. I think we have a very competitive car and the team is very motivated to try to be strong on a track where we were not competitive last year."
5/18/2008 06:11:00 p.m.
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By Pablo Elizalde
Championship leader Kimi Raikkonen believes a trouble-free first day of practice in Monaco will be key to his hopes of a strong showing at the principality.
The Ferrari driver has been hit by problems during most Fridays this year, with him well aware that his car was only perfectly dialled in at the Spanish Grand Prix - which he duly dominated.
In Turkey, Raikkonen hit trouble again during Friday practice with a gearbox problem, and the Finn was then unable to match the pace of teammate Felipe Massa in qualifying or the race.
With qualifying so important to have a good race in Monaco, Raikkonen is hoping he can stay out of trouble next week.
"No," he said when asked if the team had special plans for qualifying. "If we get everything working during the weekend, then we usually get the car right, but so far we've only had one weekend without problems on Friday.
"And every time you don't run on Fridays it hurts you, so hopefully we'll have a good first day at Monaco, get the car sorted, and it should be okay."
Ferrari failed to match the form of rivals McLaren last year at Monte Carlo, and the British squad are generally considered favourites to win there again.
But Raikkonen says his team have taken a step forward and he is hopeful the Italian squad will be strong on the streets of Monte Carlo.
"For sure we have improved from last year, so we'll see in Monaco where we are exactly," he said. "But I think it was not too bad. The feeling is pretty good with the car. We need to work more and then we'll see if we are in the same position as last year."
5/17/2008 06:05:00 p.m.
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By Jonathan Noble
Kimi Raikkonen led the way on the second day of testing at Paul Ricard in France on Thursday, as teams completed their preparations for the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver eclipsed Lewis Hamilton's best effort from the first day to set a fastest lap of one minute 05.381 seconds - less than one tenth of a second ahead of McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.
Robert Kubica, keen to get his team back fighting McLaren and Ferrari after a disappointing Turkish Grand Prix, was third quickest - just more than four tenths behind Kovalainen.
David Coulthard continued to show the improving form of Red Bull Racing's RB4 to set the fourth fastest time, ahead of Jenson Button in the Honda Racing RA108 and Sebastien Bourdais in the new STR3.
Scuderia Toro Rosso will have taken great heart from the performance of the STR3, which was able to complete a race distance in the afternoon ahead of its scheduled debut in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Jarno Trulli was seventh fastest, ahead of Nelson Piquet and Kazuki Nakajima. Force India duo Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella were at the bottom of the timesheets after sharing their car over the day.
The day marked one of those rare occasions when a test was not interrupted by red flags.
The test continues tomorrow using a different configuration of the Paul Ricard circuit that will simulate the low-downforce settings required for the Canadian Grand Prix.
Today's times:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:05.381 102
2. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:05.471 89
3. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:05.905 135
4. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:06.001 82
5. Button Honda (B) 1:06.091 155
6. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:06.125 110
7. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:06.205 120
8. Piquet Renault (B) 1:06.355 193
9. Nakajima Williams (B) 1:07.080 129
10. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:07.104 56
11. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:07.123 64
All Timing Unofficial
5/16/2008 06:02:00 p.m.
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McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was the quickest man in action on Wednesday as this week’s multi-team test at Paul Ricard got underway. Hamilton clocked a best time of 1m 05.600s around the French circuit, which was configured to a short layout to allow the teams to make preparations for the forthcoming Monaco Grand Prix.
With clear and sunny conditions it proved a busy day for all the teams. Leader Hamilton covered 84 laps in the MP4-23 as he focused on set-up and tyre work as well as a preliminary evaluation of McLaren's Monaco-specific aero package. He will hand over driving duties to team mate Heikki Kovalainen on Thursday.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen finished second quickest after completing 103 laps in the F2008. Raikkonen was charged with testing new aerodynamic components for the Italian team and was just over a tenth of a second faster than Robert Kubica for BMW Sauber.
Unofficial Wednesday test times from Paul Ricard:
1. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:05.600
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:06.098
3. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 1:06.177
4. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:06.348
5. Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso, 1:06.372
6. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 1:06.571
7. Alexander Wurz, Honda, 1:06.681
8. Timo Glock, Toyota, 1:06.936
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 1:07.346
10. Lucas di Grassi, Renault, 1:07.430
more http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/5/7783.html
5/15/2008 05:47:00 p.m.
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Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen says he will waste no time dwelling on what might have been in the Turkish Grand Prix, after a difficult Istanbul weekend saw him finish third behind team mate Felipe Massa and the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton.
Things started badly for Raikkonen on the Friday, when transmission problems limited his track time. Set-up issues and a driving error then saw him qualify only fourth, and a minor first-turn collision with compatriot Heikki Kovalainen compromised the handling of his F2008 throughout Sunday’s race.
“Even my start wasn't perfect,” Raikkonen said in his column on Ferrari’s website. “I was almost side by side with Heikki and I thought I might have passed him, but then he slowed down to take the first corner and there was no more space for me. I slowed down as much as possible, but I touched his rear tyre with my front wing.
“Meanwhile cars passed on the outside and in the end I was sixth by the end of the first lap. The car was not balanced perfectly, but there was no time to change the wing. It would have cost more time compared to the time I lost using the one I had.”
Despite being unable to challenge for victory, Raikkonen still left Turkey leading the drivers’ championship - albeit by a slightly diminished margin of seven points - and admitted he was not too downhearted by the result.
“Fortunately in the end I did not finish too badly,” said the Finn. “I wanted to fight for a win, but that's racing. Sometimes it just goes wrong since the very beginning of the weekend. So you concentrate to save as much as you can, just like I did in Turkey.
“Afterwards it's always easy to say what we could have done. But I never do that and this case is closed. So far only the weekend at Barcelona was without any problems. I hope that the next one will be at Monte Carlo.”
Ferrari will be using two days of this week’s Paul Ricard test to hone their Monaco package after being soundly beaten by McLaren in last year’s race around the streets of the Principality.
5/14/2008 05:44:00 p.m.
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Kimi Raikkonen was not concerned by McLaren's return to competitiveness in Istanbul, and thinks Ferrari could still win all the remaining grands prix this season.
The world champion's points lead was reduced to seven points after he finished a muted third in Turkey last Sunday, while McLaren felt it could have won the race with either Lewis Hamilton or Heikki Kovalainen had it been slightly more fortunate.
But Raikkonen reckoned the unusual circumstances of the Istanbul race made it hard to compare the title contenders, with Hamilton on a different strategy, Kovalainen delayed by a puncture, and his own challenge blunted by front wing damage.
"Everybody did slightly different things, so you cannot really be a hundred percent sure," said Ferrari's Finn.
"But I still think that once we get everything running, we can win all the races.
"Every race we at least have a chance.
"For sure it's closer now than it was a few races ago but I still think we have a good car and a good package."
Ferrari has now won four of this season's five GPs, taking 1-2 finishes in Bahrain and Spain, and leads the constructors' championship by 19 points.
Raikkonen was sanguine about his disappointing Turkish GP weekend, which went wrong early on when a gearbox failure cost him significant practice mileage on Friday.
He said his eventual podium finish – achieved despite the practice problems, a scruffy qualifying lap, a slow start and a brush with Kovalainen – proved the importance of salvaging as many points as possible from disappointing races.
"We saw today that if you cannot get everything out of the car then you are going to lose some points," Raikkonen said.
"We've lost a few points now but it doesn't change too much.
"I don't worry about it too much.
"We go race by race and try to win and try to gain the points on the others, but sometimes you need to be happy with what you get and today was one of those days."
5/13/2008 05:57:00 p.m.
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Bogey from Turkey
We went to Istanbul leading the championship by 9 points. We came back home leading the championship by 7 points. You can count it any way you like, but for me it's more or less like the same it was.
I like to play golf. After Turkey I've got the same feeling like having a bogey, when playing golf
Obviously I had a very difficult weekend. The one that starts with problems goes on with problems, but – thank Heaven – did not finish too badly.
For sure we would just want to fight for wins. But this is racing. Sometimes it just goes wrong since the very beginning of the weekend. While you are not able to get everything right, you try to focus on saving all you can.
To limit the damage – like we did in Turkey this time.
We finished third. Obviously, after having a look at all that happened – not the least in the first corner after the start – I cannot be terribly disappointed after walking away from there with six points.
Actually I made it home to Switzerland in the evening and I managed to see Finland beating USA in the ice hockey world championship tournament in Canada. After that also my own result felt even better.
The Turkish weekend began badly on Friday morning. We were on our first flying lap while something went wrong with the gear shifting. After that we had to wait until the afternoon to carry on the work.
The weather was good in the morning, but there was some rain in the afternoon so we were not able to get a proper picture of our car and the tires. The Saturday morning was not that much better and we had to go to the qualifying without the best possible set up.
Obviously, at the end of the day, the car was pretty good with a heavier fuel, but I made a slight mistake in my lap and that cost too much. We got the fourth place in the grid that that really hurt us.
My start was not good, either. I was side by side with Heikki. It was tight, but I thought I could go pass him. He turned quite early in and then there was no room at all. I slowed down as much as I could, but my front wing touched lightly his rear tire. I lost a part of the front wing. There were people passing us from the right and then we were sixth after the first corner.
The car was not working as I would wanted it to work, but there was no time to change the wing. It would have cost more time compared to the time we lost using it to the finish.
Afterwards it would be always easy to say what we could have done differently. I never do that. This case is closed.
So far Barcelona has been the only weekend we have had no problems at all. Hopefully Monaco will be the next good race for us and we can do what we want to. I have a good feeling, we'll have a strong car there.
Now we'll test a couple of days in France. The whole team is very, very motivated, preparing to go to the circuits, where we were no that competitive last year.
5/12/2008 05:49:00 p.m.
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Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA
1st Felipe Massa (Ferrari), 1h26m49.451s; 2nd Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), 1h26m53.230s; 3rd Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), 1h26m53.722s.
Q: Felipe, you like winning from pole. The Turkish Grand Prix always results in a winner from pole and everything delivered for you today.
Felipe Massa: It is just fantastic. Today was a very difficult race actually and Lewis was pushing me hard a lot for the whole race. Then when I did my pit-stop he was there straight away, so I thought maybe he had put less fuel in or something. I then realised and my team told me straight away he was on three stops. For sure, that was a little bit of help as he was very strong and I couldn’t hold him on the track and he passed me. But then I knew I still had a good chance to win the race as three stops were a little bit optimistic. But anyway I created a reasonable gap to be at the front after the pit stops. It was difficult, but we made it three times in Turkey which is just fantastic. I think I can get a passport here already.
Q: Ferrari were very good on both types of Bridgestone tyre unlike most of the other cars in the field and starting on the option, or softer type of tyre, was unusual as far as rest of the grid was concerned.
FM: Yeah, I was just talking with Kimi. Today was a very difficult day to choose the tyres as the difference was not so big from the soft to the hard, even on the first lap and during the run. The hard was much better on Friday but my softs survived quite well on Friday, so we were really keen to use the softs today. But then I saw Lewis going very quickly with the hards and we thought maybe it was a little bit of a mistake. In the last run I think the car was so easy to run on the hard that maybe it was the right choice to choose the hard.
Q: Lewis, I guess from where you were yesterday, when you weren’t too happy, to split the two Ferraris today is a great result for you.
Lewis Hamilton: Absolutely. I am thrilled to have come second from third, but with the strategy we were on as you could tell yesterday I was a little bit disappointed with it. Heikki did a fantastic job and was able to out-qualify me with more fuel. But after looking at the data I realised I was happy with the tyre choice. I lost a little bit of time in my middle sector. Today we started on the harder tyre and knew it was going to be very tough to challenge the Ferraris and to be honest, we were just hoping to get some points. To finish in the top five would have been good. But the balance of the car was great and on the hard tyres I was able to keep up with Felipe and even overtake him. After that I was gone and I was able to keep pushing and pushing. At the end it was quite tough, the softer tyre was definitely the worse tyre but I am much happier.
Q: Do you think your second place is a result of switching to that three stop strategy?
LH: Perhaps. The reason we went with a three stopper was due to Bridgestone being concerned as they thought the tyre was going to fail like it did last year. Therefore, they made us do a three stop as it was the safest route to go. Unfortunately for us, that put us in not such a strong position to win the race. However, I am given a problem and I deal with it and so do the team and that’s why I still believe that we are the best. I really have to say a big thank you to the team who did a great job in all the pit stops.
Q: When you were really quick with relatively light fuel it was sector three you were losing ground to the Ferraris, or not gaining ground. Is that a worry going into Monte Carlo?
LH: I don’t see it as a worry. In Barcelona, the last sector which was all the tight corners, they were a little bit quicker than us there. It was the same here with the last three corners on the straight where they seemed to take quite a lot out of us. We are going to go back and try to understand exactly why and keep pushing to improve. I have no doubts that we can do that.
Q: Kimi, a good points’ scoring day for you. Tell us about that first corner incident with Heikki Kovalainen which resulted in a puncture for your compatriot.
Kimi Raikkonen: I didn’t have a very good start. I got to the side of him on the braking. Then I got a little bit squeezed on the inside and I tried to slow down and get behind him, but he just turned in a little bit. The unfortunate thing for both of us is that I broke the front wing and he had a puncture. It didn’t help for either of us. We chose to use the front wing for the whole race because it takes too long to change it and it wasn’t too bad. The weekend was a little bit difficult but at least we got some good points and we need to get a better weekend at the next race.
Q: What was the handling like with the broken front wing as you did set the fastest race lap?
KR: It wasn’t too bad, but it never helps as the end of the wing was damaged. It is difficult to say how much better or different it would have been with the proper wing but for sure it doesn’t help you.
Q: Part of that was starting on the slow, the dirty side of the grid, which was the result of a relatively poor qualifying for you. Can you talk us through your problems up to qualifying?
KR: It wasn’t the best qualifying for me, but it has been my weakest points. We had a bit more fuel than the others which is one reason but also the lap wasn’t as good as I wanted. But anyhow I think it all started on Friday when we had a problem. But like I said we had a difficult weekend but I am still happy being in third place and we didn’t lose too many points. It is early season and we still have good points, so we will see what we can do in the next few races. The next two races last year were very difficult for us so we need to see how strong we can be and hopefully we can challenge for wins and go from there.
Q: Felipe, the Monte Carlo Grand Prix – the marquee race for Formula One – looks very good for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro.
FM: Yeah, for sure last year was okay. I finished third in Monte Carlo but McLaren were very strong there. We have been working a lot – even from last year – on the set-up for Monte Carlo for this year, so hopefully we will have a good car and a good chance to win there as well. Having a good weekend would be definitely a good result, even being on the podium as you always want to score as many points as possible. We know Monte Carlo is a track which can be very tricky especially without traction control. But I am looking forward to being very strong there as well.
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Felipe, three time winner here, fantastic. Your feelings about this circuit?
FM: It is just great. It is just fantastic to drive here. As I said yesterday it gives you a lot of pleasure as a driver to drive here. It gives you so many different corners and also having a great car like I had today it is definitely fantastic to fight for the victory and win. It was a very difficult race. We saw that Lewis was pushing very hard. In a way fortunately he had three stops, but it was difficult to hold him on the track as he was very quick. At that moment knowing he was on three stops it was maybe not so good to fight and risk the care knowing that it was pretty possible to get in front again which is what I did. It is just great to come back here at a track where I won for the first time. That is always special. To win for the third time in a row is difficult to explain my feelings.
Q: That overtaking manoeuvre. How did that come about from your point of view?
FM: I was trying to go a little bit on the inside but then I saw him going almost on the gravel, so I didn’t risk going more to the left as it would not have been fair and maybe we were going to crash. I tried to brake a bit late but he was inside, knowing where I was braking, so it was much easier to try. Then when he tried I saw him on my inside and I said ‘okay go’ and we will see at the next stop how it is going to be. It was just fine and I was talking with my engineer and he told me the gap should definitely have been okay.
Q: So no problems during the race?
FM: Maybe we made a small mistake, a very small mistake, because it is difficult to choose the right tyres here at the track. Our car was working very well on the soft for me on Friday, but not for Kimi. But on the hard it was very good. Then I said after three days the track will be much better, so I think the right directions will be the softs like most of the tracks are like that and the softs always work on the Sundays. But maybe the hard was a bit better knowing how quick Lewis was.
Q: Lewis, from your point of move where did that overtaking manoeuvre start? How did it happen for you?
LH: Probably at the beginning of the lap. I knew that I was catching him and I knew that if I could keep close to him at the beginning of the lap I’d be able to tow him down the back straight. The good thing here is you are able to follow at some of the high speed corners, it is not too bad. I knew that also he was having a bit of traffic, so it was a perfect opportunity for me to get up behind him. So I just had to make sure I capitalised on that. I got a late braking into turn nine and managed to get on the power really early. The car was very nicely balanced but right at the end of the straight they are very quick, so even then once I pulled out of the slipstream he began to pull away again. But nevertheless I was able to outbrake him and pass and pull away. Perhaps if that had happened earlier we could have won the race or if I had done a better job in qualifying we probably would have won the race.
Q: How close was Kimi coming to challenge you at the end?
LH: At the end of the race we turned the engine down and just looking after the car really. We knew that we had second place. If I needed to go a little bit quicker I could have, but there was no real need as he was never close enough to do anything. I just tried to keep him at bay. I was quite happy with the car on the hard tyres, but on the soft tyres it was a little bit trickier to maintain a decent gap. There was a lot of traffic at the end and I think they did quite a poor job in getting out of the way. I was behind someone for quite a while and although it looks like they were quite far away it does affect the handling of the car. They are not in my race as such, we are not racing us at the front and it made it quite difficult. But nevertheless I got on with it and came home with second.
Q: You have said you were almost pushed into a three stop strategy. Is that likely to happen elsewhere or is it something you can change on the car?
LH: It won’t happen anywhere else. Last year I had the tyre blow-out here, so they were already quite worried. Coming into this weekend they thought they had fixed the problem and somehow we seemed to have the problem again. But then again in the race the tyres were fine. We were sort of put on the back foot going into qualifying knowing that we were not really in the shoot for the win even if we did get pole position. I struggled on my Q3 lap to get a good time, so even with a lighter car I was not able to put it on the front row. However, going into the race I remained optimistic and so did the team and we pushed through. I think the result is the result of hard work from all the guys. They did fantastic pit stops and I think for me I probably drove the best race I have ever done.
Q: Kimi, you were saying you weren’t too badly affected by the front wing damage, could you see what it was, could you feel it at all?
KR: I knew pretty much what had happened. I hit the rear wheel of Heikki and the bottom of the end plate came off. I didn’t look at the end how much it was damaged but for sure it doesn’t help, but it’s difficult to say how much the difference was.
Q: Are you in agreement with Felipe that perhaps the harder tyre was easier to use?
KR: Yeah, if I’d chosen now I would go onto the harder tyres at the first pit stop but it’s too late. I think the first set of soft worked pretty well for me, but the second set, when it was new, was quite difficult and it was at a point when we needed to be faster, so that’s one of the reasons that we lost second place, but anyhow, it’s been a difficult weekend, so third place is the best we could do.
Q: Did you pretty much settle for third, one hoped you would have a go at Lewis at the end?
KR: For sure we tried to be in second place but we couldn’t, so I would rather take third than anything else.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) Lewis, you mentioned the tyre problems that you suffered this weekend. Just how much of a fear was it for you driving round today knowing that the tyre could have gone at any stage as it did in last year’s race?
LH: For sure it was on my mind at some stages. I was having some vibrations and I wasn’t sure whether that was the tyre or whether that was a flat spot that I possibly picked up earlier on. So for sure it was in the back of my mind. I was checking the tyre nearly every lap on the exit of turn eight to see if… last time it was on the exit of turn eight it delaminated and the tyre exploded, so I was just making sure I kept an eye on that, so I could report to the team as quickly as possible and possibly come in. Fortunately the tyres were fine but no, it was all down to safety really, that was why we were forced into that because they didn’t want to have another incident, a bit like the last race or like last year. There’s nothing worse than having a tyre blow out at 200mph, so they tried to avoid that. Unfortunately, it put us on the back foot, as I said. Without a three stop perhaps we would have had a better chance of winning the race, but nevertheless, I’m very happy with second.
Q: (Bob McKenzie – The Daily Express) Lewis, did you say that you thought that that was the best race you’ve run and if so, what makes it that?
LH: It doesn’t particularly matter whether you win or not, it’s whether you drive at one hundred percent, it’s whether you extract the most out of the car. It’s one of those times when you end the race and you ask yourself and you ask the team, could we have done a better job? And I strongly feel we couldn’t have done a better job. The pit stops were almost perfect, if not perfect, and I think my in laps, my out laps, they were stronger than ever and I just feel my race pace is getting stronger and stronger over the year, at each race. We had a strong showing in Barcelona and even stronger here. And we overtook a Ferrari. Can I just go back to why I think it was my best race. Just another thing: my predicted race finish was fifth. It could have been a lot worst. If I had got a worse start and didn’t get away in second, then I probably would have come sixth or even worse, so with a three stop strategy that no one else had, I think, I just feel we did a fantastic job to bring it back up.
Q: (Will Buxton – Australasian Motorsport News) A question for all three of you: you’ve pretty much all admitted that the hard tyre is the one you would have preferred to have been on all weekend for the race. With that in mind and looking at the final stage of the race – the only time you were on the same fuel weights – how much do you feel the teams are now more on an even playing field, given that your sector times were pretty much identical to each other for the last ten/fifteen laps?
LH: Coming into this weekend we knew that we had closed the gap, that we were going to be competitive and possibly be able to win the race. They still have a strong car but so do we, as you can see. The first two sectors were very strong. We need to figure out exactly how we can improve our last sectors because that’s where we are losing. If we didn’t have the problem in the last sector then we would be winning, so that’s something that we need to fix.
FM: Well, I think we were very strong here during the first day, we were very strong yesterday during qualifying, seeing that we had more fuel than Lewis and similar fuel as Heikki. But I think in the race, it’s difficult to measure. For sure, McLaren was very very strong here on the race pace, but we had a completely different choice of tyres, so maybe we need to wait and see when we have exactly similar conditions, run-by-run, plus they had a different strategy as well, so we need to wait and see, but for sure, they were very very competitive here.
KR: It’s the same answer really. It’s very difficult to say. Everybody did slightly different things, so you cannot really be a hundred per sure, but I still think that once we get everything running, we can win all the races, so every race we at least have a chance. For sure it’s closer now than it was a few races ago but I still think we have a good car and a good package.
Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Kimi, this was certainly a weekend where the nine point lead that you had coming here helped you. What are your thoughts about the championship, still having a seven point lead after such a problematic weekend?
KR: Like I said before, this race is early in the season and it’s good to have a little gap to the others but we already saw today – or this weekend – that if you cannot get everything out of the car then you are going to lose some points. We’ve lost a few points now but it doesn’t change too much. I don’t worry about it too much. We go race by race and try to win and try to gain the points on the others, but sometimes you need to be happy with what you get and today was one of those days, so this weekend I was never really where I wanted to be but six points is still good.
Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) This one is for Felipe: this win has suddenly brought you back into the title race; what are your thoughts about the title right now?
FM: Well, I’m right in there in the fight. If you look at the past races, Kimi won one, I won the next one, Kimi won again, and I won this race. For sure it’s always very tight, the competition is very high, but after some races I feel that I can be competitive everywhere and I’m just happy to reduce the gap a little bit, being similar to Lewis and just concentrate on the next races. We know that sometimes you can win, sometimes you cannot win, but you need to score points like Kimi did today. It’s important to be competitive and then in the last three races you’re going to see who is going to have the greater chance to win but it’s important to be consistent and trying to get a lot of points race-by-race, even if it’s first or third or fifth, whatever.
Q: (Bob McKenzie – The Daily Express) Lewis, you said earlier that you could have won the race if you’d done a better job in qualifying, but isn’t that being a bit hard on yourself, given the limitations and restrictions that Bridgestone put on you?
LH: Yeah, I’m always hard on myself. I sat down last night and I was ticked off yesterday, I wasn’t particularly happy with the job I did and at the end of the day the team give me a car and I’ve got to go out and drive one hundred percent and I didn’t extract one hundred percent from the car. That’s why I’m always hard on myself because we’re top drivers, we should be able to do it. But it appears to be a lot harder for me or in our car to do a solid lap. It looks a lot easier for them, so that’s something we need to keep pushing. Perhaps we’ve sacrificed a bit of qualifying pace for race pace, perhaps we need to work on bringing them both up.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Moto und Sport) Kimi, you lost two positions going into the first corner, was it not such a good start due to the line you had to start on or was there a technical problem?
KR: The inside line is never going to be as good as the clean side but also, when I was side-by-side with Heikki and then he was turning in and I needed to slow down because otherwise we would have hit hard, so both of us were pretty slow in the corner, so I think people came round the outside. I think Kubica or somebody else came and passed us. I lost some places there but it all started to go wrong at that point.
Q: (Will Buxton – Australasian Motorsport News) Lewis, going back to the question of tyres, obviously we’ve got two compounds running each weekend. Was the fear of delamination equal with both compounds of tyre and what does the team think it is that’s been causing that fear of delamination over the Turkish weekend?
LH: It was with both sets of tyres but we’re not sure of the reason. Basically we need to look into it more, but they’ve taken the tyres away and analysed them and saw there was some problem with the tyre, it was failing, or looking like it was going to be failing. Fortunately they made the right choice, it was the right choice at the beginning, and we made the best job that we could with them.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado do Sao Paulo) Kimi, after seeing Hamilton in front of you after the last pit stop, did you believe it was possible for you to overtake him?
KR: It’s always difficult to overtake but we tried, we tried to push him but unfortunately we couldn’t get close enough because we knew that we have good straight-line speed on the back straight but if you don’t get close enough... I was always catching him but I was too far away, so there was nothing that we could do.
5/11/2008 05:39:00 p.m.
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Massa makes it three poles in a row in IstanbulFelipe Massa put his Ferrari on pole for the Turkish Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon, for the third consecutive time in Istanbul Park. But the two McLarens of Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton lined up second and third and they will be doing their best to frustrate the Brazilian’s aspirations for his hat-trick of victories here on Sunday.
Massa set the pace when Q3 began, with a lap of 1m 27.896s, but it was a good job that he was able to improve that to 1m 27.617s as Kovalainen punched in a 1m 27.808s on his second run. The Finn showed absolutely no ill effects after his nasty shunt in the recent Spanish Grand Prix, and seemed very happy with his car.
Hamilton had been very fast in Q1 until Massa beat him, but was unhappy with his McLaren’s ultimate performance on his second try in Q3. Where Kovalainen made the medium Bridgestone tyres work for him, Hamilton admitted that his choice of the harder tyre was not the answer.
Kimi Raikkonen was fourth for Ferrari and it may be that he is running more fuel than Massa. The Finn lapped in 1m 27.936s, compared to Hamilton’s 1m 27.923s.
5/10/2008 05:36:00 p.m.
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By Pablo Elizalde Friday
World champion Kimi Raikkonen was left lamenting his troubled day in Turkey, despite topping the times in the afternoon practice session.
"Not the best of Fridays," said Raikkonen, who finished at the bottom of the timesheets in the morning after being hit by a gearbox problem.
"This morning, I only managed one timed lap before a gearbox problem meant I could not go out for the rest of the session. In the afternoon, I struggled a bit to find the right settings on the car.
"One of the main problems today was getting the tyres up to the correct temperature, but I think that tomorrow, partly as the grip level on the track improves and partly as we work to improve the set-up, it will be a different situation.
"We lost valuable time this morning, but we still have enough data to analyse so that we can be ready to tackle the rest of the weekend."
Raikkonen, leading the championship by nine points after the first four races of the season, finished ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who was just 0.036 seconds slower.
Teammate Felipe Massa, chasing a Turkish hat-trick after winning from pole position at Istanbul for the past two years, was only quickest in the morning but only third fastest in the afternoon.
"Overall, this was a positive day," he said. "The track is very fast, even if it's still a bit dirty, which meant it was quite easy to make mistakes. The low temperatures mean it is difficult to get the most out of the tyres on a first timed lap, especially on the harder ones.
"We tried various settings and now we need to look at the data from everything we have done over these three hours, to be as well prepared as possible.
"I feel comfortable on this track and I think I can be very competitive tomorrow and on Sunday in the race: it would be fantastic to win again here, after having done it for the past two years."
5/09/2008 06:00:00 p.m.
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Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari (1st, 1m 27.543s):
"Not the best of Fridays. This morning, I only managed one timed lap before a gearbox problem meant I could not go out for the rest of the session. In the afternoon, I struggled a bit to find the right settings on the car. One of the main problems today was getting the tyres up to the correct temperature, but I think that tomorrow, partly as the grip level on the track improves and partly as we work to improve the set-up, it will be a different situation. We lost valuable time this morning, but we still have enough data to analyse so that we can be ready to tackle the rest of the weekend."
Heikki Kovalainen on his return to the McLaren cockpit following his dramatic accident in Barcelona; Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima on beating team mate Nico Rosberg into the top ten; and Red Bull’s Mark Webber on making an impact on Istanbul Park with his afternoon crash. All 20 drivers report from Turkey (note - positions and times refer to practice two)…
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren (2nd, +0.036s):
"We focused on tyre evaluation and set-up work today and so far things are not looking too bad. Everybody lost a bit of running time in the first session as the track was still wet in places after cleaning. This circuit is constantly evolving which is challenging but also enjoyable. In the first session I stayed on the same set of tyres throughout and experienced no problems. In my last run of the day I put on a new set of tyres but had a small moment which cost me some time. Overall I am pleased with our initial pace and consistency."
Felipe Massa, Ferrari (3rd, +0.139):
"Overall, this was a positive day. The track is very fast, even if it's still a bit dirty, which meant it was quite easy to make mistakes. The low temperatures mean it is difficult to get the most out of the tyres on a first timed lap, especially on the harder ones. We tried various settings and now we need to look at the data from everything we have done over these three hours, to be as well prepared as possible. I feel comfortable on this track and I think I can be very competitive tomorrow and on Sunday in the race: it would be fantastic to win again here, after having done it for the past two years."
David Coulthard, Red Bull (4th, +0.220s):
“Today was similar to the Friday session in Spain - there were no major problems, it was all about following the track evolution and making sure we had the balance right. There are a lot of long corners on this circuit, you can see people are going off quite easily, so it’s critical to get the front end right here. We’ll look at the data now and decide what we’ll do for tomorrow.”
Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren (5th, +0.411s):
"It was nice to get back in the car again and everything was fine. I was on the pace immediately and was able to set some consistent lap times. At the end of the first session I went out on the option tyre but the brake temperature was not quite right, so I was not able to go flat out in that run. The second session went smoothly as well, and we focused on tyre evaluation with some long runs as well as looking at the set-up. A very productive and positive day."
Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber (6th, +0.888s):
“Unfortunately I didn’t have too much time on the track this morning due to a small technical problem. Therefore we had to squeeze the morning work into this afternoon’s programme. We only did four runs and had to work on the tyres and the set up. We still have a few problems with the balance of the car, but tested several set up options which we will now evaluate and then choose the best one. I am confident for tomorrow.”
Jarno Trulli, Toyota (7th, +1.076s):
"We have come to Turkey at a different time of year so temperatures are unlike what we have faced in the past. But that was a good day despite the mixed track conditions - dusty in the morning then rain in the afternoon. We made it through our programme of tyre and set-up work and we didn't have any problems. The car seems okay so far but there is still work to do in order to improve the handling. Now we have to work hard over the next two days to maintain our strong start to the season with a successful race."
Kazuki Nakajima, Williams (8th, +1.121s):
"Practice was good for me today. In the morning I struggled a little with the grip levels because the track was really slippery, but it improved a lot in the afternoon. The rain at the start of the second session prevented me from carrying out some of my scheduled programme, but I did at least do a tyre compare which has given us some useful information. We’re looking in reasonable shape for tomorrow’s qualifying; there’s still some work to do tonight on set-up, but I’m happy."
Fernando Alonso, Renault (9th, +1.138s):
“The track conditions were certainly not ideal today, buy they were the same for all the teams and did not disturb our programme too much. As usual we worked hard and I was able to evaluate a lot of things with my car and gathered some interesting information. We still have to make a few more improvements tomorrow, especially with the general balance of the car, but today’s performance is encouraging for the rest of the weekend.”
Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber (10th, +1.274s):
“The trouble is I don’t get the tyres heated up quickly enough. The long run wasn’t bad. As soon as the tyres start to work, it is okay, but it takes too long to get there. We now have to work on that.”
Jenson Button, Honda (11th, +1.283s):
"We made a lot of changes to the car after this morning when I was struggling with a lack of grip on initial turn in which you really need around here. This afternoon was much better right from the start of the session. We tried a lot of different things on the set-up and I'm confident that we know which direction to take for the rest of the weekend. This circuit is very tough without traction control and you could see that a lot of people were making mistakes but that does make it more fun to watch and drive. I was certainly enjoying it out there! The car is working better on the smoother asphalt here and we have made some changes to help with the ride quality, so for me the car feels better than in Barcelona."
Timo Glock, Toyota (12th, +1.306s):
"Both practice sessions went pretty well and the car felt good throughout the day. I also had a strong long run with competitive lap times. Graining and understeer were challenges today. On a late run I went off the track and couldn't stop the car from hitting the kerb and damaging the front wing. It was my mistake and I missed the last five minutes but it was nevertheless a good first day. I've had some successful races here in GP2 but it's difficult to overtake so qualifying is important this weekend. Our target has to be to get into the top ten tomorrow, as I did in the first two races this year."
Nico Rosberg, Williams (13th, +1.364s):
"We covered quite a lot of ground today, especially on the aero side. We have definitely made some progress and are taking the right direction, but we are not 100 percent there yet. It was quite slippery out there, and not easy to keep the car on the track, but I don’t think the temperatures here are causing us too many problems, which is a plus."
Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India (14th, +1.465s):
“This morning I was really struggling with the balance and with the grip on the circuit, but then we made a few changes on the car and it felt much better, much more consistent so I think it was a good afternoon, it was definitely a step forward in the second session.”
Rubens Barrichello, Honda (15th, +1.481s):
"The car was nicely balanced in the morning and we were pleased with our progress. However we made a mechanical change over lunch which changed the balance. It was too big a change to go back in the time available so we have some work to do overnight to understand what has changed. We should be able to get the car back to how it felt this morning, then I believe we have a good chance of getting through to Q3 tomorrow."
Nelson Piquet, Renault (16th, +1.669s):
“My day was pretty normal. I had quite a busy programme with set-up work this morning and tyre testing in the afternoon. The aim was to feel at home in the car and to try to improve the balance, and we managed to do this because we did not have any problems during the two sessions. The track conditions were relatively stable, even though it rained a little bit at the beginning of the afternoon. Overall I think that we have prepared well, and I am determined to make the most of the final practice session tomorrow.”
Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso (17th, +1.919s):
"I am quite happy with the way practice went today. Obviously, it was difficult because of the changing conditions, which limited our track time. But I think we completed a good and consistent programme, which produced a lot of useful information, especially for Sunday. I feel happy with the car again, which is the most important thing, so I am looking forward to tomorrow afternoon."
Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso (18th, +2.087s):
"It's my first time at this track and I have to say it is very interesting. Turn 8 is particularly tricky as it is both quick and bumpy and these cars don't like bumps very much! The car can step out on you quite quickly. Today, sometimes the car felt good and at other times, it seemed to get away from me. The conditions were really difficult. I wouldn't say it was a case of low grip, but rather that we struggled to take care of the tyres and this made the car difficult to drive. But we got plenty of data, so we have something to work on for tomorrow."
Mark Webber, Red Bull (19th, +2.090s):
“Going off the track at Turn Six was 100 percent my fault. I didn’t respect the green
Astroturf that sits on the outside of the track enough. I was a bit too loaded up on the outside of the track, the Astroturf was a bit damp, and I went off, it was my fault. I apologise to the guys and we’ll bounce back from this tomorrow.”
Adrian Sutil, Force India (20th, +3.289s):
“This morning was okay. It was difficult for everyone as there was very little grip with not much rubber laid down. I think most people struggled to find a balance, including us. We took the hard tyre for the first session and recorded a standard lap time, but at least we could see where we were. It was okay with the balance and some corners were quite good. We used the harder tyre again in the second session with the longer runs, but it did not work as well at the beginning as I lost all the temperatures in the tyres. After the red flag we realised that there was a clutch issue and we couldn't do any more running so it was a bit disappointing, but hopefully tomorrow will be better.”
5/09/2008 05:32:00 p.m.
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5/08/2008 08:12:00 p.m.
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5/07/2008 08:07:00 p.m.
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5/06/2008 08:01:00 p.m.
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5/05/2008 07:59:00 p.m.
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