You look at him, sunk into a sofa in front of the tv that is showing a match of Federer, and you wonder: why is he doing this? Kimi Raikkonen is still slim, always hazy in his look. Blond locks come out under his beanie that he wears even indoor. Why are you doing it, Kimi? You won a worldchampionship five years ago, last Ferrari driver who got it. You had fun with rallies, with Nascar, with Peugeot 908 (until it was possible). You know very well that with Lotus the chances to back to the top are few, especially at 32. And then? The money? You expect an unkind answer and instead he plays ball: “The money is just a part of the story, of course. But it’s not that I needed it. For sure it’s a work where you risk your own life, so…”
- Now you can say to have raced also in others categories. But is the F1 for you always something special?
“Special? I wouldn’t know. It’s what I have done for most of my career. But if you want to race, you try to make it at the top level. And if you can choose, you probably choose F1.”

- Can you tell us how were your negotiations with Lotus?
“Well, it didn’t work with Williams: their offer was not what I wanted. With Lotus we talked a bit about everything and it went all very fast. We easily found a deal that satisfied both.”

- Now you see at you like a rookie, who has a lot to learn, or as a champion who can teach something?
He smiles. He didn’t lose that way to speak lazy, but he seems he has more will to explain, to tell: “Uh, we’ll see how it goes. To tell the truth I didn’t think much about the results, so far. I just want to do the best I can, then I hope to make some good races too. I really don’t think that if something goes bad we’ll say: fu*k you, I give up all!”

- You come back after two years, Sch. After three…
“It’s not the case to make comparisons. I don’t know how easy or difficult was for him. I think about me.”

- You’ll find again the GPs but also the interviews with the press, the meetings, things that you hate. Do you expect something will change?
“I expect as the same as before. They say that everything changes, but I don’t believe it. And I have always said that I’m here because I like racing, the rest is part of F1 but it’s not the main thing. It’s always been like this and ever will be.

- When have you decided to give up with rallies?
“When I have tried Nascar and I felt I liked to race together with the others. And that I missed it. It’s not that I wanted to stop with rallies, I would do them even now, but I can’t. We’ll see in future.”