Kimi Raikkonen News: bahrein

7/09/2013 06:57:00 p.m. No comments

Obviously, I've got more points than ever before, but, for sure, it was not the best race of my life. We had a chance to get to the top position at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Well, we tried our best, but it was not enough. We finished second and I've got my first podium after a couple of years.

The weather was good. Finally it was consistently warm. Our car likes that and it felt really good after we had the proper set-up work done on Friday better than in the previous race weekends.

The key factor was the tyre degeration. It's the same for everybody, but everybody can approach it in their own way. We decided to gamble the qualifying and went accordlingly through it. To save new tyres for the race, we did only one lap in Q2. We knew it will be tight, and we lost it. But still I had a encouraged feeling for Sunday.

After the race in China and after the qualifying in Bahrain, people probably started thinking that we are idiots and cannot do anything right. But we showed in the race why we did what we did. It was close already in China and this time our strategy paid back very nicely for us.

We were at our fastest speed while it counted. I managed to overtake Romain and after that I've was hunting down Sebastian. It was close getting past him, too, but I would have needed more than one chance to make it. Now I chose the wrong side for braking, Sebastian survived and after that, I pretty much knew, that was it.

Of course, I wanted to win. I would have been much happier myself after the race. But, most of all, it was a great result for the team. The team gained many places in the contsructors' championship, while finally we got both our cars in the points and, most of all, in the podium as well.

Only McLaren has had two cars in top 3 in the season like us. That shows how tight and how close it is with so many top teams. You have to get everything exactly right to be at the top. Small mistakes or a measured risk like we had and you are out from Q3 and most likely out of podium, too.

Now the team is back up where we belong. The Bahrain result was good, but it's not good enough for us. We will push even harder to get good results on regular basis. I wouldn't count on winning, but you never know how it goes in motor racing.

Next step is testing in Mugello. For Barcelona we have again some new parts and also some good data from the winter testing. Let's wait and see how it goes there in two weeks time.

5/20/2012 04:22:00 p.m. No comments

Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean danced their way through the Bahrain desert for a double-podium performance in today’s Bahrain Grand Prix. Kimi took advantage of saved sets of new tyres from qualifying to vault from eleventh to second, whilst Romain scored an equally impressive seventh to third.

Both cars started on the yellow-marked soft Pirelli P-Zero. Kimi pitted for a set of softs on lap 11, then fresh sets of mediums on laps 24 and 39.

Drivers’ Championship:
Kimi Räikkönen, P7 (34 Points)

Constructors’ Championship:
Lotus F1 Team, P3 (57 Points)

Kimi Räikkönen, P2, E20-03
Fastest Lap, 1:37.116 (Lap 41)

“It’s a great result for the team and we deserve it as everyone has been working very hard. To be honest, I’m slightly disappointed we didn’t take the win because we had the pace. I only had one chance to overtake Sebastian (Vettel) and unfortunately I chose the wrong side to try and get past. If I hadn’t made a small mistake at the start and allowed Felipe (Massa) to get through then maybe it would have been a different story, as we spent quite a lot of time fighting with him. At the end of the day, it’s good to have both cars on the podium, especially after last race which didn’t go to plan, but I honestly think we could have taken the victory today.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

"It was a great team performance today and I’m delighted for everyone, both here in the paddock and back at Enstone. The first three races were very frustrating, as we knew we were capable of a result like this. Until now, small details have hindered our performance, so it’s almost a relief to finally show what we are capable of. We took a bit of a gamble on strategy and I’m pleased to say it paid off. Both drivers put in a fantastic performance, and to have two cars not just on the podium but so closely matched all through the race demonstrates what a strong line-up we have. I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved today."

Alan Permane, Director of Trackside Operations
“We’ve been saying over the last few races that podium finishes were on their way and today we’ve proved that. To come from eleventh to score a strong second, challenging for the win was an awesome performance from Kimi and shows that the E20 is a superb race car. For Romain to match Kimi’s pace and finish just seven seconds behind him despite having fewer new tyres is a comparably impressive performance. Our race strategy calls today were not as tricky as we’ve seen in other races. We knew we had to make three stops and it became clear as the race went on that our main question was could we beat Sebastian (Vettel)? We gave it a good go. It wasn’t a perfect performance this weekend - we weren’t happy with our performance on the soft tyres in qualifying – but it’s clear we have a car which has the pace to win races. ”

5/19/2012 04:20:00 p.m. No comments

Kimi Räikkönen was fastest of the non-Q3 participants in P11 during qualifying for tomorrow’s Bahrain Grand Prix. Kimi’s starting position outside the top ten means he has an open choice of starting tyre for the race.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-03. Q: P11, 1:33.789. FP3: P7, 1:33.976.
“We had the speed today and we could easily have gone through to the final session with another run, but we thought it was worth taking the risk to only do one lap in Q2 and save fresh sets of tyres for the race. Managing the tyres will be a priority tomorrow, so while it was a gamble that didn’t get us through to the final session it will hopefully be a strategy which pays off in the race. We knew it was going to be close and of course we always want to be as high up the grid as possible, but there were two options and we went for the one which we believe will deliver the best result on Sunday. There are no points given out on Saturday, so let’s see what happens tomorrow.”

Alan Permane, Director of Trackside Operations:
“It’s going to be a long hot race...”

How do you assess today’s qualifying performance?

“We’re a little bit disappointed with our pace on the soft tyre and we need to assess where we lost out on speed as we didn’t achieve what we thought would be possible with Romain in Q3. Kimi’s pace was comparable to Romain’s and with another set of tyres he could have gone through to Q3.Tomorrow will be all about tyre degradation, so we took the risk not to run Kimi a second time in the Q2 session in order to save tyres. Unfortunately, he was pipped out of the top ten at the last moment. We knew it was a risk not running him again, but the performance penalty of not making Q3 was is not as great as it could have been due to the benefits of the fresh tyres saved for the race.”

How does Kimi’s P11 starting position look when assessing the race strategies?
“It’s better to be starting in P11 with four new sets of tyres available for the race than further up the grid with fewer new sets. Kimi’s in a strong position and there is the potential for a good result. We are capable of running for the entire race with only new tyres and the performance benefits that brings.”

Did you expect better from Romain’s qualifying performance?
“Romain did a great job in Q1 on the prime tyre, but his pace wasn’t quite there with his initial run in Q2 on the soft tyre so we ran him again. In Q3 he made a slight mistake which probably cost around two tenths, and the grid is very close out there.”

What is the difference between the two tyre specifications here?
“We’re seeing around 6-8 tenths, although it appears that some of our rivals are able to extract a bit more pace from the soft tyre than we are. This is not so much of an issue for the race, as we are confident in our long run pace.”

Thoughts for tomorrow?
“It’s going to be a long hot race tomorrow. There’s potential for high tyre degradation and it’s a physical race for the drivers because of the heat. Anything is possible.”

5/18/2012 04:19:00 p.m. No comments

Kimi Räikkönen: "A podium should be possible"

Having come agonisingly close to a great result in China, Kimi puts the past behind him and focuses on his next chance for glory in Bahrain

The Chinese Grand Prix was full of action; how was it from your position?
It was good racing but we ran out of tyre performance during the final stint. I felt comfortable in the car and I could push well, but we lost out in the end. I was not able to get past Felipe (Massa) in the middle part of the race, and I wasn't able to keep Sebastian (Vettel) behind me, but there is still good speed in the car.

What happened when Sebastian got past you?
I had been keeping him behind me, but finally my tyres were too far gone for me to keep him there. I went wide and then I was on the marbles. I had very little traction on the loose stuff and because it was so close a lot of cars went past me. It was then too late to make another stop so it was frustrating. It was the strategy we chose, and I wouldn't have been fighting for second if we'd gone for a three stop. Maybe we should have run a longer second stint, as that worked for Romain. We learnt a lot about the tyres.

Are you frustrated the strategy chosen didn't work?
It looked the best one for us and it worked for Romain. If we had the same information again, we'd probably try the same approach.
It didn't work, but you don't know these things unless you try them.
We will now know better for next time. We were pretty close to finishing on the podium. We didn't. That's racing.

You were racing wheel-to-wheel at times during the race. How was that?
It is what I missed when I was rallying, and it's good to be racing against other cars like that. It was very close at times, but it's called racing so that's what you do.
I thought it must have looked good on television for anyone watching.
I look forward to racing more like that this season.

The team wasn't able to maximise the latest upgrade package at Shanghai – how frustrating was that for you as a driver?
We had a lot of parts but it was wet on Friday morning and very cold in the afternoon. We went back to most of the old spec for Saturday as we knew how it worked. Qualifying was okay, but there was a bigger gap to pole which wasn't what we wanted. We didn't make the car faster which some others did with theirs. The E20 still feels good to drive, but we just need to get a little bit more speed. Hopefully we will find it in Bahrain.

What are your thoughts of the Bahrain International Circuit?
I don't think it will present any particular problems for us. It's likely to be quite hot and our car didn't like the cold so much when we were in China so maybe the heat will suit us better. The track has a mixture of corners and it's quite fun to race on. There are some opportunities to overtake so let's see what happens.

It's another circuit where you have finished on the podium…
I have had a second and three third places in Bahrain which is okay. It is good to race there. We won't know how strong the car will be until we get there. Maybe we will get the upgrades on the car to work properly and we will be able to go faster than in China. Let's see.

How have you enjoyed the first three races?
It's not that different to what it was like before. I don't like the travel so much as the first races are so far away from home, but soon we will be racing in Europe. When you're at the track and in the car you know what you have to do, so it doesn't matter so much about the other stuff. When I'm in the car it feels good, and we're all working to get faster.

Do you think the team is capable of a strong result in Bahrain?
A podium should be possible and I think it has been at all the races we've been at so far. We don't know exactly how good the car will be until we get there, but we don't expect any problems.

5/17/2012 04:17:00 p.m. No comments

Bahrain Grand Prix is far behind, but it will certainly offer chatting for a longer time. Last night I got phone calls from Italy when Italian reporter colleagues wanted to update their information about Kimi Räikkönen and wanted a Finnish perspective about expectations for the upcoming races.

On Tuesday I was in Helsinki when my old friend Erkki Vanhanen's book about track-racing was published in the sport museum. What do you know, the main talk was Bahrain GP.

Commentator Tomi Tuominen told that the race nailed him down for the whole hour and a half.

– I don't remember the last time when I followed the whole race from beginning to end without moving at all. It was a race where you couldn't miss anything, because the situation was on the whole time and it could had changed any way possible, Tuominen praised.

Räikkönen on the podium for the first time in two years and seven months is the kind of a push that we have needed in Finland.

The first blue-white F1-voice Matti Kyllönen was on fire over the F1-spring.

What kind of energy has following F1-races offered you?

– I don't even know which word would be the right word to describe the situation - other than AWESOME! It's just awesome that we once again find this kind of behavior from our success-hungry nation. F1 hasn't been nearly as interesting in two years and through success we jump to a completely new level, Kyllönen smiles.

– Now it feels good again and I can breathe. I have the anticipation 'is this true?' all the time. It's too good to be true.

– I even had an itch during the race that is it right if Kimi wins already now. Will it go too much the easiest way? It is really interesting when the season has only started and he has already been on the podium. I'm sure he will be there in the future also. Now we just have to wait in which GP the first victory happens.

How does it feel when tyres decide so much?

– It is somehow extremely problematic, artificial. Just like Michael Schumacher said last weekend. Somehow it was easy to agree with him.

– Maybe it has gone a bit too far but of course it's extremely great for spectators to follow - just like the race in China. In one moment completely shocking things happened position-wise. It's a carefully considered formula we work with now and we just have to live with it.

Then who wins in Barcelona?

– One of the McLarens. It has to be one of them, Kyllönen thinks.

MTV3's commentator Mika Salo is recovering from the disease he got in China and he also sees the shady side of the street in these GP-thrillers.

Four races and four different winners from four different teams. Can this continue?

– It looks like it would continue. It goes so criss-cross that you can't say which ones are certainly in the top five. That's why all speculation should be completely forgotten.

– I wouldn't enjoy it at all if I were a driver in some team and wouldn't know if I'm first or 10th. Either you leave happy or *** No swearing *** disappointed, there is not that evenness anymore where one good car is always in the lead. Now the power relations swing from here to there, Salo said.

What about the tyre-department? Good or bad?

– On one hand it's good since it's really cool for the viewer. The teams only have to learn how to use them. At some point they will change again. Pirelli isn't the end of the world. At some point a new tyre-supplier comes along and everything starts from scratch again and they have to learn to use them. You just have to get used to them.

How difficult is it for a commentator to see which tyres someone is driving with?

– It's insanely difficult. They don't tell it to anyone, because what they are doing is a big secret at that moment. And FIA doesn't give that table where it says which tyres whomever has used.

– I was in the race steward -tower to get acquainted with my steward-business in Valencia, they have a list of drivers and beside each driver they have all the tyres they have and how many laps they have drove with each set. They know exactly if someone has for example drove 4 laps with some tyre etc.

– We should have someone there to comment on the same data. It would be like now we're talkin ', sports fans! But for some reason they don't give them out for that kind of distribution, Salo said.

Who wins in Barcelona?

– You tell. It's the same thing. Barcelona is again completely different from any other race the whole year, because teams have already tested there in winter with these cars. It's easy to bring updates there, because based upon the tests you see immediately if the new parts work or not. They have so good data.

– In other words those who were fast in Barcelona's winter tests, they are also fast in May. Go figure. Kimi was fastest then and he will also be fast during the GP-weekend. How it goes for Kimi, that again depends upon how the other teams have gone forward.

– Barcelona has always been the most boring race in the season, because cars have due to testing already been put in positions. Lets hope that it changes at least a bit, Salo says.

http://blogit.ts.fi/formulablogi/2012/0%20...%20viihdetta/

3/30/2012 02:20:00 p.m. No comments

3/29/2012 02:19:00 p.m. No comments

3/28/2012 02:17:00 p.m. No comments

3/27/2012 02:16:00 p.m. No comments

3/21/2012 02:10:00 p.m. No comments

I always set the bar very high when I'm racing. Sixth place isn't really much to shout about, but this time it felt just a little bit good. We've had so much trouble that it was good to have a solid race and bring the car home.

I couldn't have gone any faster with this car. Three points ain't much, but it's better than nothing, and at least we're back in the race. I don't think anybody expected us to have such a start to the season, but now it's looking a little better.

The guys at the factory are working really hard to get the new car ready in time. Wind tunnel tests suggest that it's better and faster, but we can't know for sure until we take it to the track.

All the other teams are building new packages for Barcelona as well. Let's hope ours is the strongest.

In Bahrain both of our cars finished. That's a good sign as well. Improved reliability makes it easier to introduce the new package. It'll still take time to get it right, but we're confident that once it's ready, we'll be racing for wins.

Man, was Bahrain a tough race! It's the hottest track of the season and I'm really happy that we made it through in one piece. It's about 60 degrees in the *** No swearing *** and then you have to go sit in there wearing coveralls and long johns. It was a full day's work, but I'm in a good shape and all the hard work I put in over the winter certainly paid off.

The car really wasn't completely rubbish, even though we're still lacking speed. I'm pretty happy with the balance, especially on the softer tires. Once again we could see that hot weather is better for our car.

I had the chance to go for fifth. During the second pit stop we had a bit of a problem with one of the front tires, and we couldn't stay ahead of Barrichello. It would have been hard to fight him off on those hard tires, but it would have been nice to at least give it a shot.

Glock put up a tough challenge, but fortunately his car was no match for ours on the straights, and I was able to keep him under control.

We're way behind in the championship. It's no use even thinking about our chances before we've raced the new car. That'll give us an idea of how much we can catch up and when. What's most important now is to get a stronger car for Barcelona. If we can get even three tenths closer to the top runners, that'll take us several places up the grid straight away.

Now I have a few to days to enjoy the ice hockey world championships. It's great to have the tournament close to home, so I can go watch the games myself. I already saw Finland play against Denmark. Next we'll see what happens with the Czechs.

I myself have a bit of time to play golf and tennis. This is the best part of the season, when the races move to Europe and we don't have to fly very far. I have a pretty about our next race.

4/30/2009 11:09:00 p.m. No comments

Stefano Domenicali: "Today we were aiming to get both cars home in the points and we got it half right. Unfortunately, Felipe's race was compromised just after the start in damaging the front wing: he dropped to the back of the pack and not able to do much, apart from demonstrating a good pace with a heavy fuel load. Kimi drove a strong race, putting the finishing touches to a positive weekend. His sixth place is a fairly accurate reflection of our current situation. We have to push really hard on development of the entire car, not just concentrating on one admittedly very important part like the diffuser. This will be a key phase in the championship, although I'm not implying everything will hinge on Barcelona. We are Ferrari and we will never give up until the moment when the maths says it's over."

Felipe Massa: "My race was decided at the start. I was sandwiched between Kimi and Rubens and the front wing got broken after making contact with my team-mate's rear wheel. At first, I didn't realise what had really happened and so I came in after two laps to change the nose. Then, after a good start with a clear track, I found myself in traffic and my hopes of climbing up the order evaporated. One thing's for sure, we won't give up because all of us want to get back up the order."

Kimi Räikkönen: "I am happy to have picked up a few points but I can't be that pleased with our performance level. I've been around long enough not to get very excited about a sixth place. We are well aware we have to improve. In theory, the new package we will have in Barcelona should see us make a good step forward, but we won't know just how big it will be compared to the others until we are on track in Spain."

Chris Dyer: "Unfortunately, Felipe's race was soon turned into a climb up the order after he made contact with Kimi, breaking the front wing and having to come in immediately. With so much fuel on board, the Brazilian's pace was pretty good, but he then found himself in traffic and could not get all the potential out of the car. Kimi drove a good race and his sixth place represents what we could have reasonably expected to do. All the same it was important to get the ball rolling in the classification, wiping out the zero. We still have a lot of work to do to improve, both in terms of reliability and in being competitive."

4/29/2009 11:05:00 p.m. No comments

In the first dry race of the season, an action-packed Bahrain Grand Prix delivered yet another exciting instalment of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship. Jenson Button took his third Grand Prix victory of 2009 (the first not behind the safety car) for Brawn GP. 21-year-old German, Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing finished in second, holding off a late charge by Italian, Jarno Trulli in the first of the Toyotas. Scuderia Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen finished a solid race in sixth place - his highest placed finish of the season and claiming three Championship points for himself and the team in the process. Felipe Massa finished the race in fourteenth place, a lap down on the leaders.

Having already tested at Bahrain in pre-season, Toyota F1 Team and Scuderia Ferrari looked to have an advantage over the rest of the field. The two Toyotas locked out the front row and both Ferraris made the top ten shoot-out. During the race, Finn, Kimi Räikkönen managed to work his way up the field and was able to keep Timo Glock (Toyota) behind him in the closing stages. Brazilian Felipe Massa, who was eighth on the grid, was forced to make an unscheduled stop to examine any potential damage after an incident at the first corner and could only manage fourteenth place, despite pushing his Ferrari F60 hard all the way.

Lisa Lilley, Shell Technology Manager for Ferrari, commented: "It has been a very difficult start to the season for Shell and Scuderia Ferrari. We can take some real positives from today's race, where Kimi scored three points in a tough Grand Prix. Bahrain is always a very hard race to come to, with track temperatures of nearly 60ºC and the Shell products have to work extremely hard to maintain the performance of the Ferrari F60, which they did today."

Kimi Räikkönen has kicked off his bid to claim back the Drivers' Championship in 2009 with three points in Bahrain. Jenson Button of Brawn GP stays at the top of the Drivers' Championship on 31 points, second lies Rubens Barrichello (also of Brawn GP) on 19 points. Close behind and in third place is Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing on 18 points.

In the Constructors' Championship, Brawn GP tops the standings with 50 points. Red Bull Racing lies second with 27.5 points and Toyota F1 Team is currently third on 26.5 points. Scuderia Ferrari has claimed its first points of 2009, with three points in Bahrain.

The 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship moves to Europe next, with the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona on 10 May 2009.

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