Q. A question to you all. What are your feelings about this circuit, about Singapore? Your feelings about racing at night?

Kimi RAIKKONEN: Last year was a nice race. We will see what we can do this year but hopefully for us it should be a little better than last year but we will see how it goes.


Q . Kimi, you have spoken about not having any more modifications on the Ferrari. What are your expectations for this race?

KR: I think we have a similar weekend than any other this year. It is very hard to say where we are before we even run. Circuits like Monaco and Valencia have been pretty okay for us, so maybe this is more like them. But I mean everybody seems to go forward and we have had no new parts since Hungary. All we have is small ones, but nothing major, but still we have been able to have good results, so hopefully it is the same here. Let's wait and see for tomorrow and then we will have a much better idea.

Q. What did you take out of last year's race? It wasn't a good ending for you.

KR: No, it wasn't. But that is what happens sometimes. It did not make much difference with my last year's position. I think overall the car suited this track very well. Usually it is a different car and different tyres we should be okay here and it is a nice circuit. They have changed it a little bit, but we will see how it is.

Q. (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) To all drivers: Nelson Piquet crashed on purpose; do you think there is space for a driver like this in Formula One?


KR: He admitted it himself but I think it will be difficult for him to get back after that kind of thing. It's not something I want to be involved in. If he comes back, it's going to be good for him, if not maybe there is a reason for it.

Q. (Mark Fogarty – Auto Action) Lewis and Kimi, as the reigning and previous World Champions, do you not have an opinion on this race fixing scandal? Does it not outrage you, could you not fill us in on what you think about such a serious thing that has happened in your sport, particularly as you're representatives as World Champions?

KR: It's not our team... Of course it's not a nice thing but I don't want to get involved in the whole situation. There's nothing that I can change there. You say some things and then people write it sometimes wrongly and you end up suddenly being part of it in the wrong way. We try to work in our team. It's not a nice thing for the sport but unfortunately some kind of scandal seems to happen every year. Hopefully it stops at some point and there's more about racing.

Q. (Paulo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Since you're out there risking your lives, would you feel comfortable to be racing close to another guy who you knew has done something on purpose? He put himself in danger but he could also put you in danger.

KR: Well, accidents can always happen, but I don't think there are many people who want to have accidents on purpose. It's a dangerous sport, anything can go wrong, even at slow speeds and you can get badly hurt but that's the risk we take.


Q. (Joris Fioriti – AFP) Kimi, what about you? Luca di Montezemolo said yesterday that it was between you and a Spanish guy. Everybody knows what he meant. It's getting closer and closer.

KR: It's the same story still. I have a contract and I guess they want to talk about it, but it hasn't really changed anything since the last race or the race before.

via Autosport.com

It's difficult to find the right words: racing at night or during the day, this is definitely not my year.

I hit the wall when there were just a couple of laps left. True, I wasn't racing for the win, but for some very important
points for the Team; and then it ended like at Spa, with another DNF. It seems as if the more we try to improve the situation the less we get in the end. At this point I can just hope for a weekend where everything goes in the right direction.

Once again we had the right speed at Singapore, but not when it was really necessary. The fastest race laps aren't worth anything, if you don't combine them with the situation when they really count.

Obviously I'm really sad about this situation. I can't explain this dark period and there's nothing I can do to change what happened. We have to look ahead, to the last three races.

Singapore is a wonderful place for a GP. The night race was organized very well. I was a bit surprised to hear all that chat about the time of day and the visibility: when the lights went on it was bright day at the track.

The car went really well on Friday morning, but in the afternoon we decided to change the set up and it didn't go in the right direction. In the third practice session we had a problem with the steering wheel and I
lost a lot of precious time, because I couldn't try the harder tyres on the fast lap; obviously this was not the perfect way to prepare myself for the qualifying.

At the start of the race I couldn't find my rhythm, because the tyre pressure was too low; I needed some laps to make them work properly. When they were alright I started to fly and I could easily catch up on Hamilton. When the safety car was deployed I understood that my chances were destroyed, because when your second at a double pit stop there's hardly anything you can do. I managed to gain position five and then, with a faster car, I was right behind Glock. I was waiting for the right moment to overtake him, but then I hit a very high kerb and the car literally lifted off and I couldn't keep it under control. I hit the wall and my race was over.

I'm very sorry for the Team, because they've done some great work to improve the F2008. It hurts loosing these points. But we know that we've got what it takes to fight for victory in the last three GPs.
Let's hope that I'll finally have a smooth weekend, from Friday to Sunday evening.

Q. What happened?

Kimi Raikkonen: I touched the inside kerb I just bounced off and hit the wall.

Q. Was it a question of losing concentration?

KR: No. I wanted to stay close in places to the Toyota because there were only two places that I could get very close and have any chance if he made a small mistake. That was one - before the back straight I needed to get very close and unfortunately I touched the kerb slightly too much and just when you hit that quite hard you can't turn too much and I couldn't turn any more so I just went a bit wide and hit the wall. Not the tyre wall, but the plastic blocks and I took the wheel off.

Q. Is this the end for your championship hopes?

KR: It was a pretty small chance anyhow. I'm not sad for my fifth place but I'm sorry for the team to lose those points. But for sure we'll try to do better next race.

Q. How did the rest of the race go?

KR: At the beginning of the race there were a couple of difficult laps but then the car was very good. Then we got the safety car and we had to stop behind Felipe and lost a lot of time. We tried to come back and we were able to get to fifth place and I wanted to go further but we got nothing in the end. I'm not sad for my fifth place, losing that for this error, but for sure for the team it would have been nice to get those points for them.

Q. What happened in Felipe's pitstop?

KR: I don't know. I didn't even look. I just tried to get close to him and then he left and the fuel rig was still connected. I don't really know what happened, probably the people who were watching on TV got better views.

Q. Your last victory was in Spain. What are your feelings on going for so long without a win?

KR: It doesn't change anything. I was in a position to try to win, but when the safety car came out the chance was pretty much gone. We've been close a few times but quite often we've been a bit unlucky so we try next race again. I haven't given up. We want to have some good races. We have not had the season we wanted but we have a good spirit. Of course this is not a nice day but I've seen enough in Formula One and we still have a good car and we should still be able to win some races this year.

Q. Is it a problem to race at a track on which safety cars are so likely?

KR: The safety car rule is very difficult for the people that is in the first 10 because more or less the safety car seems to come always in an area where we need to pit in. Then you really get the penalty or you are lucky because you stopped before the safety car. You lose a lot of places when you have to stop behind the safety car. It's a difficult rule - sometimes it's against you, sometimes it helps you but it's nothing to do with the circuits. It's the rule with the safety car.

Q. Is the car now more to your liking?

KR: The car is usually pretty good in the race, but we still have some work to do to get exactly what we want for one lap. It's definitely been better since we changed back to the parts that we performed well with when we used them in a couple of races this year but on one lap it's still not what we want. We were in a good position today but when the safety car came out it was all gone.

Q. When the safety car came out and you were pitting behind Massa, did you consider staying out for another lap?

KR: I think it wouldn't have made much difference to me. It's best to come in with everyone else and double fuel. You always lose out when you are the second car.

Q. Was the crash caused by a problem of the track?

KR: There is that one chicane where we talk about the kerbs that are very high and if you touch the kerb too much it bounces the whole car in the air. There's nothing you can do and the wall is pretty close. I tried to turn and slow down but it just took the wheel off. Not too hard, but it was just enough to take the wheel off.

Q. Lewis Hamilton has seven more points than Felipe. How important will your role be in the next three races.

KR: I know what the team wants - they want to win the world championship. We will see what happens. I'm trying to win races too and we will see what happens. I'm out of the championship anyhow.

Kimi Raikkonen: I was trying to attack (Timo) Glock in case he might make a mistake, but I went slightly wide at the chicane, jumping over the kerb and when the car landed, I lost control and ended up in the barriers. My situation in the championship was already rather compromised, so this doesn't really make that much difference but I am unhappy because the team has lost precious points in the constructors' classification. In the opening laps, the car was a bit difficult but then it improved a lot, to such an extent that I was able to close right up to Hamilton. When the safety car came out, I know my race was compromised given that I had to pit behind Felipe. I was able to get back up to fifth but then the incident I described earlier happened. Clearly, morale is not high today. But I am not used to giving up and will do my very best to try and help the team reach its targets.

Q. Kimi, a troublesome morning for you which would not have helped going into qualifying.

Kimi RAIKKONEN: Yeah, it was a bit unfortunate. We had some issue with the steering wheel and then I ran wide and tried to turn round but we could not find any gears anymore. That is unfortunate but the car has been pretty good. We have been losing a bit of time here and there but it was not too bad.

Q. A good Q1 for you, but how did you feel in Q2 and Q3?

KR: I thought it was better with the softer tyres but we were not so sure, so we stayed with the harder ones and it was a bit trickier than the first qualifying. Maybe we should have gone the other way but I don't know, it would probably not have a made a lot of difference but anyhow I am reasonably happy. It could have been better but it is not too bad.

Q. The drivers have been talking in general about how physical the circuit is. Talk a little bit about it being an anti-clockwise circuit. It seems quite bumpy, very hot.

KR: I think it is just hot and humid and that is the only difference. It is not very physical, there are quite slow corners and not any quick corners but it is quite bumpy in some places. That is probably the only negative thing here and hopefully for next year they can fix it. Apart from that it is a very nice place and a nice circuit to drive, so it is a nice feeling.

Q. Kimi, very good times in Q1 and Q2, so are you a bit disappointed with Q3?

KR: The result is OK if I look at what happened in the last few races. For sure in the first qualifying the car felt best and then it was a bit more difficult with the harder tyres. It was difficult to really chose which tyres to take in the end. I think the hard ones were the safer option. We missed the morning, so we couldn't really test them against each other, so that was a little bit difficult for us. It was OK. Third place is fine.

Q. Does the car feel good? You mentioned a modification that you tested at Mugello.

KR: No, we went back yesterday for today and it feels OK. There are small things that we can still improve for sure, but I'm pretty happy with it, and I think once everything is fine as we had in the first qualifying, then it seems to be quite good but if it goes a little bit off that, then it's not as quick anymore and for sure you need to have a good car if you're going to be in this kind of place, exactly where you want. I'm still happy and for sure I think we are usually a little bit stronger in the race, so I'm not too worried about it.

Q. Which is the most crucial part of the circuit as far as you're concerned?

KR: I think it's everywhere. There are a lot of slow corners and you can easily lose a lot of time in those, so you need to get everything right to be fast here. There are many areas which are tricky, so it's not easy.