Räikkönen’s estimated annual earnings are $40 millions according to Forbes. Kimi may be just 41th, but he is a powerful athlete. However, I’d prefer if that was the case on TRACK and not some celebrity website…
Screenshot from Forbes’ Kimi Raikkonen page:
Q.
It appears your problem is more in qualifying than the race. Is it that
you cannot get the tyres quickly enough up to temperature, or what is
the reason?
Kimi Raikkonen: No, I think in the last few races the
qualifying was not really a problem. In Monaco I hit the wall and in
the last race it was okay. But we never really saw in the end what is
going to happen because of safety cars and everything. I think we are
getting where we want to be.
Q. Is it fair to say that you want a car that is sharper in turning in?
KR: There is no point going into the details. It is not going
to change anything here. We have still not found it exactly the way we
want to go, but it is definitely getting there.
Q. But it looks like once you are stuck in traffic there is not much you can do?
KR: Yeah I think so, because we do not have as much grip from
the tyres as last year. You lose the same aerodynamic effect when you
are behind people and then you don’t have the grip from the tyres. So
it is very difficult to overtake or get even close to the people.
Q. Is it the same for everyone, or is it just specific on the Ferrari?
KR: No, it is everybody. You don’t see much overtaking this year.
Q. How important are your points this weekend in terms of the championship?
KR: Every point is important, but it all depends on what
the other people will do in the races. So, we try to do the best race
and score as many points. Hopefully we can try to win the race and that
will help us.
Q. This is a track where traditionally Ferrari have gone strongly. Will it be the same this time?
KR: I hope so. It is the first time for the team with me
here, so I cannot really say. But we expect to have a good car here, so
we will see.
Q. Do you think Ferrari are still a more competitive force than McLaren?
KR: I don’t know. Like I said the last two races are
special places, Monaco and Montreal, so this is more like a traditional
race. We will see here really where we are, but I think the teams are
very close to each other.
Q. Do you think the rate of development at Ferrari is the same as you experienced at McLaren?
KR: I think so. We get more compared to what we got last year. But I don’t know what they are doing now.
Q. After being so dominant in Australia, has it been a surprise about how quickly McLaren could catch up?
KR: Not really. I knew that they were going to catch up, and
I think we have not had exactly the strongest races since then, but it
is normal for teams that in some races you do better than others.
Q. The circuit here is grippier than Monaco and Montreal. Will that be better for your car?
KR: I don’t know. It is my first time with the team here, but we expect to have a stronger race here than in the last two.
Q. You were right behind Robert Kubica in Canada when he had his accident. What did you see?
KR: It was a pure racing incident. Jarno (Trulli) just get
his own line and Robert tried to go around him but he touched his rear
tyres. He then took off and hit the wall. It was an unfortunate thing
but it was good that nothing happened to either one.
Q. Did you hit any of his car parts? Was it dangerous?
KR: No, it wasn’t dangerous. But we got part of his front
wing stuck in my front wing so I lost all the downforce of the car, but
in the last pitstop we got it out again.
Q. Were you looking in the mirrors to see if he would crash into you once you were past him?
KR: No, I just tried to avoid him. I knew he was going to
come back onto the circuit once he hits the wall, but I couldn’t see
him as he was too much to the side. But looking at the pictures he did
not miss by that much, so luckily he did not end up there.
Q. What do you think about the situation for yourself and Alonso at the moment?
KR: Sometimes you have difficult times in racing, in
championships. It is not the first time for me, so we just need to be
patient, work hard and get everything right. So it is not too late and
we will try and get back from there.
Q. You are 21 points behind Lewis Hamilton at the moment. Is that a lot at this stage of the season?
KR: It is a lot of points, but if we can have a good race
now and they have one bad race then it is going to look completely
different. So we just keep working and try to get back there.
Q. Is it a tougher start to a season than you expected?
KR: You never know exactly what to expect with a new team. We
had a good start of the season and then the last three races have been
difficult. But it is pretty much what we expected really.
US GP – Raikkonen press conference
Kimi
Raikkonen faced the media around lunchtime in the Indy paddock, earlier
than usual for a Thursday but done deliberately to help with European
newspaper deadlines. "It was not a good time, and it started badly as I
had no grip off the line and the car did not move," said the Scuderia
Ferrari Marlboro man, as he jumped straight into the subject of his
Canadian Grand Prix. "The race was very difficult with the way things
were going, made even more complicated when some debris from Kubica’s
car got stuck in my front wing and then I lost the brakes. Not the
easiest race, but at least we got some points in the end, which could
be useful later. There is no point thinking about what might have
happened if there had been less chaos. It is always like this in Canada
and part of the reason is that the tyres kept getting cold behind the
Safety Cars and losing grip while the track surface there is the sort
that is like driving on ice once you get off the line."
Over
in Raikkonen’s former team, most of the attention is now focussed on
Hamilton who is having an exceptional rookie season. "As for our
rivals, I cannot say I am more worried about Hamilton than Alonso now,
as in Monaco, Alonso also had a difficult race," commented the Finn.
"Here for example I think we will have a good car. The fact that Alonso
finished behind me and that my team-mate did not finish did help my
personal position in the drivers’ classification. I hope I can have a
"proper" race here and then we can see what the situation looks like
again. Of course I wanted to do better over these last three difficult
races but I think we can turn it around. There is no big problem on the
car and of course we can improve. But it is not as though we have lost
a whole second in the last two races. There is nothing wrong with the
car. Here we will get a better idea of where we stand. There is still a
good atmosphere in our team and I am not interested in these stories
about an argument between the two driversat our main rivals, because it
has no effect on our work. We just need to get better results than
them. Here at Ferrari I feel at home and I like the people so I think
from that point of view, everything is going well. Now we just need to
start getting the results which we are capable of. I just have to be
patient and I know I am getting exactly the same support as Felipe
within the team, it is just that he has had some better results earlier
this year.
In
Canada, BMW had an excellent race, but Raikkonen feels they might not
show such go od form here. "We knew they have been strong since the
start of the year and Nick has been going well all season, but here I
expect it to be more of a fight between us and McLaren and I also
expect it to be very close," he suggested also explaining that he was
happier with his performance in qualifying than in the beginning of the
season. "I think I now understand the tyres better and my qualifying
performance over the single lap is much better. That is very important,
because one thing that has affected us is that with the cars in this
year’s configuration and with the tyres we have, it is very difficult
to overtake if you start from a poor grid position. The effect of
losing aerodynamic grip when following a car closely is the same as
before but now we cannot make up much of that grip through the tyres as
we could in the past. But that situation is not specific to us and
applies to everyone."
So
what should Indianapolis have in store for him. "It is my first time
with my new team here at this track so I don’t know what to expect even
though Ferrari has a very good record here. We will find out tomorrow
once testing starts."
Kubica speaks about his shocking crash
I think we all should hear what Kubica has to say, as I’m sure every F1 enthusiast was deeply worried for Robert, seeing that terrible crash of 170mph into a wall. Any F1 driver is open to accidents such as these, even our Kimi, and to imagine that happening to him is even worse! So let’s hear and thank the FIA with him for making F1 as safe and it possibly can be.
Formula 1 fans, team owners, mechanics. They were all shocked when Robert Kubica crashed out of Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix. A horrible accident that saw the Polish BMW driver flying, spinning over the Montreal track. Luckily Kubica was pretty much unharmed and after one night in hospital he took a flight to Indianapolis. In his first interview after the crash Kubica admitted to get away very lucky from such a crash.
Robert Kubica was in a fight with Jarno Trulli when he crashed out of the race. Speaking about how it all happened he told ‘Bild’: "I was very close to Jarno (Trulli) and wanted to overtake him on the right while the corner went to the left. I touched him and lost my front wing, which flew under my car so I was completely steerless immediately and lost control of the car. I jumped on the kerbs and all of a sudden was airborne."
Kubica continued saying: "Everything went very fast, you can hardly think. I just let go of the steering wheel and placed my hands on my chest. I first noticed that I survived the incident when I was on my side and looking at the track marshals. I tried to move and noticed I was ‘ok’. I wasn’t unconscious really. Maybe just for a very short moment but I can still remember everything really well."
The Polish driver realises he was very luck. "We have to thank someone above because there is no reasonable explanation why I could get out of that car without even breaking a finger. I could probably hurt myself worse on the stairs! If this kind of crash had happened to me ten years ago I wouldn’t have been here. Therefore I must really thank all the people at the FIA for how safe Formula 1 is nowadays."
Kubica hopes to race at Indy this Sunday, but has to wait for the doctor’s decision. "I do not have pain, I am clear in the head can concentrate on the job. My ankles aren’t in perfect condition but they don’t disturb me. The FIA doctors will have to decide on Thursday if I can race or not. I hope I can get the chance to race at Indy."
FUCK ISRAEL 