I¹m a racing driver, and being one, I always want to win. When we talk about the races in China last week and in Bahrain last year, well, obviously, we finished second in both occasions. So something was missed, but, to be honest, I can live with that.

We have a competitive car. But it¹s not easy to get everything right with it in the set-ups. While it works, it is ok. So we got it going ok in China, and hopefully we manage to get it good in Bahrain, too.

This is a very tight championship. Every point counts. For sure, there will be more not that good weekends like we had in Malaysia, so it¹s important to minimize the losses then, likewise to maximize the result, while the car is going well.

The race at Shanghai started badly, then I know now, how it felt going close range to McLaren. We lost some parts of the nose, but, surprisingly, not that much the speed after all.

To finish second was probably the best possible result with all the happenings we experienced, but still I was not that happy, while I knew, we could have fought stronger for P1 as well.

After the race I went back home, rested a little bit and recharge the batteries to keep on fighting in Bahrain this weekend. I have some very good memories from there, but, unfortunately, some not that good, too. Last year we gambled on qualifying, but didn¹t loose the chance to fight for the victory.

Obviously, it doesn¹t help a single bit this time, how we did last year. It¹s a brand new ball game every time were start a new race weekend. We expect to be competitive, but we have to wait until Friday morning, to learn, how the car goes in Sakhir circuit this time.

Kimi clinched a hard-earned P2 in today’s Chinese Grand Prix, and is aiming to stay right at the sharp end throughout the season ahead

Q: Another podium after a tough race; are you pleased with the result?

A: Second wasn’t quite what we wanted, but in the circumstances it was the best that we could manage today. I’m not 100% happy because we didn’t win, but it is what it is and second place is a good result after a bad start and the incident with Sergio [Perez].

Q: What was your view on that incident?

A: I was moving alongside him and thought there was enough space, but in the end there wasn’t and I got pushed onto the grass. Maybe he didn’t see me and I tried my best to avoid him, but unfortunately I couldn’t so I hit the rear of his car which damaged my front wing. Luckily there was still the kerb there so I found some grip to stay on the track and carry on.

Q: How tricky was the car to handle with the damage?

A: It was quite difficult out there. Obviously the car is not designed like that otherwise we would use it all the time, but I was surprised how good it was still. Of course there were some handling issues and quite a lot of understeer which was not ideal, but we just had to try to live with it. We could have changed the wing but we would probably have lost more time overall and we still had pretty ok speed even with the damage.

Q: You’re second in the Championship, just three points off the lead; are you pleased with your start to this season?

A: We just have to keep doing our best at every race. For sure it’s not a bad start and we’re in a better position than this time last year, but we’ve only had three races so it’s too early to say. We just have to keep doing our best at every race, make sure we still pick up points if sometimes we don’t have such a good weekend and hopefully we can stay in the hunt.

Q: You needed an entourage to make it back through the paddock today; how does it feel to have such fanatical support?

A;:It’s great to see so many fans and there was a lot of noise up on the podium. Hopefully I can keep giving them some good results.

Kimi Räikkönen took his second podium finish of the season with a strong second place in the Chinese Grand Prix. Despite a rearranged nose and front wing – courtesy of contact with Sergio Perez’s McLaren – Kimi fought back after a poor start from the front row of the grid. Kimi keeps up his run of consecutive points finishes and retains second in the Drivers’ Championship on a tally of 49 points; three behind leader Sebastian Vettel. The team falls one place to third position in the Constructors’ Championship on 60 points, with Ferrari now ahead with 73 points.

- Both drivers started on scrubbed sets of the soft compound (yellow) Pirelli tyre.
- Kimi pitted for new mediums (white) on laps 6, 21 and 34, Romain on laps 7, 23 and 37.
- Kimi incurred damage to his front wing after an early collision with Sergio Perez.

Kimi Räikkönen, P2, E21-03
“Second wasn’t quite what we wanted, but in the circumstances it was the best that we could manage today. I’m not 100% happy because we didn’t win, but it is what it is and second place is a good result after a bad start and the incident with Sergio [Perez]. It was quite difficult out there; obviously the car is not designed like that otherwise we would use it all the time, but I was surprised how good it was still. Of course there were some handling issues which was not ideal, but we just had to try to live with it and we still had pretty okay speed.” 

Kimi Räikkönen will have his first front row start since the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix after qualifying second for tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit. Kimi set a 1min 34.761secs lap using Pirelli’s soft compound tyre and will start alongside Lewis Hamilton for the 56 lap race.

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03.
Q: P2, 1:34.761.
FP3: P7, 1:36.605

“This is my best qualifying for the team which is good, but of course you always want to be on pole. It’s been quite a tricky weekend so far and we’ve had a few small issues with setup, but it’s always difficult to get things exactly how you want them and the car seems to be working well now. The tyres will of course be the question mark tomorrow; some people are starting on the primes but we chose the strategy we think will work best. Hopefully we can keep managing the degradation well like we have so far this season and have a good race tomorrow.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:


How was qualifying for the team?
We’re obviously very happy with the result today. Kimi has been comfortable with his car pretty much all weekend; not so much this morning when a small set up change was made, but that was reversed and he was back where we wanted to be.

What was the problem with Romain’s car?
Romain had a difficult morning but with no real issues; just circumstantial problems which put things on hold briefly. He went into qualifying with a car that was unchanged from this morning, so bearing in mind his earlier tribulations he did a great job to take P6.

What are the considerations the for race strategy?
We’ve done all our race preparation and run work so we know where we are in terms of both the soft and the medium compound tyres; we’re pretty confident on strategy and looking forward to running a very strong race.

What is possible tomorrow?
From second and sixth anything is possible; we will certainly be pushing to get both drivers on the podium with one of them on the top step.

Kimi Räikkönen set the second fastest time of the first day during the opening sessions for round three of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship; the Chinese Grand Prix. Kimi lapped the Shanghai International Circuit in a time of 1min 35.492secs during a soft tyre run in the afternoon session. Romain Grosjean was hampered on his flying lap using the softs; ending his second session with the twelfth fastest time. Kimi trialled new rear floor aero parts.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director - Technical programme notes:

- We evaluated a new front wing on Romain’s car.
- Kimi ran with new aero components on the rear floor.
- Pirelli’s medium (white) compound tyre was used in the first session, the medium and soft (yellow) tyres during the second.
- Romain ran with the latest exhaust package in the morning, reverting to the older configuration in the afternoon for comparison purposes.

What we learned today: - The new front wing appears to be beneficial and Romain will continue with it for the rest of the weekend.
- The data from the rear exhaust package appears to confirm the benefit of the latest specification.
- The car looks good with both tyre compounds.

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03
Free practice 1: P11, 1:38.790, 16 laps
Free practice 2: P2, 1:35.492, 32 laps 

Crossing the break It has been a different kind of break for me. I have spent some time with my motocross team, while they had their opening race for the European season in an ice cold Valkenswaard in the Netherlands.

The atmosphere was great, there were a lot of motocross fans and the races were great to watch. I personally had a racing driver to a racing driver chat with my motocross team competitors, They are professionals like me and it felt good to change opinions between F1 and motocross drivers.

I tried the bike myself, as well, and it was pretty refreshing way to have a break from Formula One.

Now it¹s time for the third race weekend of the Formula One season. China has been a good place for me from time to time, but every race gives a brand new challenge. It doesn¹t help how we did there 5-6 years ago, or in the last couple of races this season.

Obviously, we have a car to do our very best every weekend. What to expect from Shanghai, that I can say after the practise sessions, not before. That¹s how it goes every time.

Last year we went for it with a tyre risk. We knew it was a long way to go with the same set of tyres. Then it didn¹t work out, and we have to pay for it loosing many positions during the last few laps of the race.

Hopefully we get a good solid weekend this time. If the car goes as it has gone in the some earlier runs in this year, we should be ok for Shanghai, too. Let¹s wait and see, what the weekend brings along.

I¹m ready for it, the team has worked hard to get the car right and the weather should be ok.

Romain Grosjean benefitted from an aggressive tyre strategy whilst Kimi Räikkönen ultimately lost out in a fast-paced and exciting Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit. Romain went from tenth on the grid to finish in sixth, whilst Kimi ran strongly in second place until his tyres could no longer deliver sufficient performance, finally finishing in 14th.

Both cars started on the yellow-marked soft Pirelli P-Zero and used a further two sets of mediums.
Kimi pitted on laps 10 and 28.
Kimi ran in P2 for laps 41-47. Romain ran in P2 for laps 29-31.

Kimi Räikkönen, P14, E20-03
“We tried to run two stops as it looked to be the fastest strategy and up until the last ten laps it was looking good, but we ran out of tyre performance at the end. I was stuck behind Felipe (Massa) for quite a while and couldn’t get past as I wasn’t fast enough in the right parts of the track to make a move. Even if I’d got past I don’t think it would have made the greatest amount of difference to the final result. We had good pace in the race, we tried a different strategy and it didn’t pay off today; it’s as simple as that.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal
"It is getting more frustrating for us as we are clearly very close to achieving a very good result. Twelve laps before the end of today’s race we had one car in P2 and one car in P5 with no more pit stops to go. Unfortunately, we were a little bit too aggressive with our strategy. As soon as we understood some cars were doing three stops it was clear there was potential for us to finish on the podium, but we were not expecting the tyre wear to be as high as it was. For Romain the strategy worked; for Kimi it did not. The positives from this weekend are that we continue to show good qualifying and race pace with the E20, and we were capable of fighting for a podium finish with Kimi. Also, it was a very good first full race for Romain. One slow stop and one mistake when fighting with Mark (Webber) for position meaning he ran on the marbles cost him two positions. He recovered very well from this and his pace was very consistent."

Alan Permane, Director of Trackside Operations
“Ten laps before the end of the race, Kimi’s tyres were nearing the end of their life and unfortunately he got on the marbles when Sebastian (Vettel) passed. That was the end of his race effectively as he lost ten places over the course of a lap. We’ll dissect the data and see if a three stop would have been better for us, but everything before the race suggested a two-stop was the way to go, and this approach benefitted Romain. Without the gamble we took with Kimi we wouldn’t have been running in second position so that was the risk we took. I’m happy for Romain to finish his first race of the season. To go from tenth to sixth - racing with the cars of the calibre he was - showed a measured performance so it looks good for the future. We’ve learn a lot this weekend and hopefully we head to Bahrain with an improved car and better understanding of this year’s tyres.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader
“Congratulations to Romain on his first points of the season. It was a shame that Kimi could not get a double points finish, but the speed of the package is fundamentally there. Engine-wise we’ve had a trouble free weekend, which is always positive at this type of track where the unit gets a workout over the entire rev range. Driveability through the slow corners was good and the top speed was reasonable, which allowed Romain to defend his position in the closing laps from the Williams and get some decent points for the team today.”

Kimi Räikkönen set the fifth fastest time whilst Romain Grosjean made it through to Q3 but did not set a time in the final session before tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit. Kimi benefits from a gearbox change penalty for Lewis Hamilton and will start in P4 for tomorrow’s race whilst Romain will start from P10.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-03. Q: P5*, 1:35.898. FP3: P10, 1:37.061. *Starts from P4.

“The grid position is okay but when you look at the times, I’m disappointed with the pace of the car today. We’ve gained a position after Lewis’s penalty but the speed wasn’t where it should have been, especially when you look at the pole time. We’ve tried some updates this weekend, but they haven’t worked as we wanted so we’ve gone back to how the car was before. We go into the race less confident in the car than in the last two races, but knowing that we start from a higher position on the grid. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow, we’ll try to do the best we can and hopefully we can be higher up than we are on the grid, and that means a podium.”

Alan Permane, Director of Trackside Operations:

“It should be interesting...”

Both drivers in the top ten again, are we happy with today’s performance? “Kimi is where the car should be and I think he’s reasonably happy with his performance. He did an excellent job through qualifying and considering the build up of this weekend I think we can be reasonably happy. Romain’s absolute pace is very similar to Kimi’s but qualifying is hungry for tyres if you can’t get the pace straight away. Kimi got through to Q3 with just one set of soft tyres, but Romain required three sets, meaning he then didn’t have a fresh set for his Q3 lap. Romain’s got the pace, we just need to unlock that pace on the hard tyre in a qualifying situation.”

What’s the assessment of the weekend so far?
“We brought a new update package for the car and we weren’t convinced by a large part of it yesterday. This meant we reverted almost entirely to our Malaysia specification which is why we have missed out on potential pace from the car. We hope to get all the new elements working soon.”

P4 on the grid is Kimi’s best starting position, what can be done from there?
“We have to take every race as it comes, but we’ve certainly seen that we’ve raced more strongly so far than the two Mercedes ahead of us, but that said we were a long way off the pole time, so they are clearly looking very strong. I’d like to think we can take the race to the other cars around us. We’re confident in our starts and our tyre wear and race pace. It should be interesting.”

China in Your Hand

It’s time for the third Grand Prix of the season.

After the rainy race in Malaysia first I dried myself, did some pr-work in Beirut, went to Enstone factory to have a look on some new things for the car, then I trained properly at home and finally went to see some spectacular action of motocross world championship fight in Holland.

It was a good break, all in all. We are ready to race. I feel fresh and look forward to get with the grips in those very fast long straights and tricky slow-speed corners of Shanghai circuit.

The car should now be even better. We have some interesting new parts and they should give us more speed to challenge the top guys again. But we have to wait to see, how the track suits for our car. So far there has been no problems at all in all the circuits we have driven it.

Previously China has usually been a good place for me. Since the very beginning at Shanghai circuit we have had the speed to fight for the podium places. Our win five years ago in China was the turning point for the championship fight back then.

Let’s hope we have finally a normal weekend without any unnecessary problems. I have a good feeling with the car so far. Obviously, we expect the E20 going well in Shanghai. We will know more, where we are the after the first few laps in the circuit on Friday practise.

Like always my aim is to score good points – and, if possible, to challenge for the top positions. It was very close in Malaysia qualifying, while the gap was so small with all the top cars. The fastest lap on the race was a very positive sign, too.

But you never know beforehand how the weekend goes. China, especially, is one of those places, where the weather factor can very quickly change everything.

You’re going to be in trouble, if you don’t watch out all the time with the weather. The forecast tells us, there will be the typical showers during the weekend, so most likely it’s going to be a matter to get everything right with perfect timings to get out with the good results.

It’s China in our hands, for sure...

Two races in – how does it feel to be back?

Two races done, eighteen to go.

So far it has been more or less alright for me and the racing isn’t any different than before. The E20 certainly feels good. We’re workingto get the steering exactly right for me – and we’re almost there. The speed in the car is good – and this applies to qualifying and race pace. It’s been two frustrating races in terms of where we started. We shouldn’t have started so far back in Australia, and the penalty for changing the gearbox before the Malaysian Grand Prix cost us finishing positions too, but that’s motor racing.

The E20 certainly seems to have good pace…

We can say it looks good so far. The car was very good in qualifying at both races. Romain was third in Australia then I was fifth fastest in Malaysia. At Sepang it could have been better. I made a couple of mistakes in the final run in Q3. I lost some time there, so it could have been better than fifth, fourth or even third. I felt the speed was there in the car. Obviously, it was a good car to qualify.

Race pace doesn’t seem bad either; you’re back to setting race fastest laps…

The race was difficult with the conditions and honestly the best approach was to fight to keep the P5 position. When I first went out on the slicks it was so dark that it was difficult to see the dry line on the circuit. Once I could make out the line I drove fast enough to keep the position. I felt that there was more pace possible from the car but I didn’t want to take any risks. To set the race’s fastest lap is nice, but not as good as winning.

How was the feeling with the Pirelli wet tyres?

It was my debut with the latest wet weather tyres. When the lights went out, I had to take it easy, because I simply didn‘t know how they would behave. Obviously we had done only one installation lap with them beforehand, so we didn‘t even know how to adjust the front wing for the wet race. But the start went okay, we actually managed to gain a few places, but then there was an incident with a couple of cars in front of me, so I had to go on the grass again like in Australia to avoid them. I lost some places, but I made it through the first lap, anyway.

What are your thoughts of the Shanghai International Circuit?

It’s just another race track – I don’t have particular favourites or anything like that. It’s quite similar to Albert Park and Sepang in what it requires from the car so that should be good for us. We have some new parts for the E20 so that should also be good. I’m sure all the other teams have new parts for their cars too, so we won’t know where we are until we get there.

You’ve gone pretty well in China before, you must have a good feeling going there?

I won there in 2007 and that was a good feeling as that was the year I won the World Championship. It’s a proper race track and there are good opportunities for overtaking. Our car looks good so let’s see what happens when we get out on track.

Are you happy with the development progress of the E20 and the evolving relationship with the team?

The team is working very hard to keep us going to the right direction. Obviously, we have a good and solid car to work with. It has been quick everywhere so far. The weather and other situations at the two races we’ve had mean we haven’t seen the best of it. I feel comfortable with my relationship with the team. It’s clear they are racers like me and that is the best way to get the maximum from the season.

““It feels like I’ve never been away. Yesterday we made some mistakes which cost us quite badly so it could easily have been better in the race. I made a good start but then there was an accident in front of me at the first turn, so we lost a few places there as I had to almost stop and move onto the grass to avoid it. That made the race harder again as we had the speed, but a lot of traffic to get through. When you look at all these things we could have finished in a much better position. We had the safety car which I think actually hurt us a bit as well. Overall the weekend was far from ideal, but the car feels good and to come back to 7th means we at least come away with some points.””