Monza Testing, Videos *Updates 29th August*

Interview with Kimi Raikkonen from today’s test
With five rounds to go in the 2007 Formula One season, the Finn knows
his visit to the Italian circuit – the first time as a Ferrari driver –
is crucial. Autosport.com caught up with him during today’s testing lunch break.

Q: Do you have any fond memories from Monza?

Kimi Raikkonen: "I enjoy driving here. I’ve always been competitive,
but I’ve never been able to win, so hopefully this year we can change
that. But it’s a nice place to come to."

Q: This is your first Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver. Is it different?

Raikkonen: "I think the driving does not change either way, but
sure, there are lots more fans. People expect us to do well, and that
is what we are going to do. We give our best and try to win the race.

"But it is more hassle here than driving a McLaren? I think racing-wise, there is not much change."

Q: In Turkey last weekend, qualifying was a crucial factor. Will it be the same in Monza next week?

Raikkonen: "I think every race this year, if you start from the front, you have better chance to win than when stuck behind.

"Hopefully we will have a strong qualifying – it will make our life a lot easier."

Q: How is the test going so far?

Raikkonen: "It is difficult to say; we have not done too much set-up
so far. Hopefully we can do that in the afternoon. I have a good
feeling with the car – sure, there are some details to be solved, but
overall it is OK."

Q: McLaren look very fast here. Are you worried?

Raikkonen: "Not really. I don’t see any reason to be worried on testing – you don’t know how much fuel every one is carrying.

"But they will be strong, you can see how it goes, and sure it is going to be a close fight with them."

Q: So you expect the two teams to be very close again?

Raikkonen: "I think so. If you look at most races, I don’t see why it should change."

Q: Monza is a fast track. Can that be an advantage for Ferrari?

Raikkonen: "There are better places than here. This is low downforce
and not many corners, braking and over the kerbs. So it is one of those
special circuits that are not normal. But I think we have a good
package. We’ll see…"

Things haven’t been going so well for Ferrari in the tests apparantly. TS reports that Kimi didn’t have much opportunity to do good times yesterday because
he had problems with Ferrari’s new brake system or something. They
tried to work with it but then they just reverted back to the
former one. Ferrari has also had problems with qualifying speed as
they’ve had the whole season.
Kimi’s had to spend more time in the garage than on track. Grrrr.

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Kimi is testing on Tuesday and Wednesday. Massa takes over on Thursday but as the test might be extended, Massa may get to test on Friday too.

Times – Day 2:

1 ALO 1’23.155 49

2 HAM 1’23.454 49

3 HEI 1’23.725 84

4 TRU 1’23.759 60


5 RAI 1’23.773 59

6 KOV 1’24.093 76

7 VET 1’24.266 101

8 WUR 1’24.356 71

9 KLI 1’24.595 92

10 WEB 1’24.701 83

11 SAT 1’24.976 80

12 SUT 1’25.278 76

Photos
 

Video
Day 2:



http://www.mediafire.com/?at12mepphov

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Times – Day 1:

1 HAMILTON McLaren 1’24.112 53


2 RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1’24.258 60 0.146

3 HEIDFELD BMW 1’24.277 76 0.165

4 TRULLI Toyota 1’24.523 61 0.411

5 NAKAJIMA Williams 1’25.052 98 0.94

6 VETTEL Toro Rosso 1’25.106 63 0.994

7 WEBBER Red Bull 1’25.427 60 1.315

8 PIQUET Renault 1’25.429 94 1.317

9 BARRICHELLO Honda 1’25.472 83 1.36

10 ROSSITER Super Aguri 1’25.548 64 1.436

Kimi concentrated mainly on defining the set-up for the F2007 and on
development of aerodynamic solutions aimed specifically at this track.
60 laps were completed. Read the Autosport report here.

Photos
 
Video
Day 1:



http://www.mediafire.com/?5ybvgbtmxgz

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Raikkonen buoyed by Hamilton problem

"After every race I get asked how the championships will proceed and
my answer is always the same: we have to wait until the last race in
Brazil to be able to say for sure, because anything can happen,"
Raikkonen said.

"Istanbul was a fine example: Hamilton was doing well and racing for
high points but then unexpectedly he had a tyre failure; nevertheless
he collected some points, but not as many as he had hoped for.

"He will certainly give his best until the end, but that is what we
will also do. You can’t take anything for granted and we have to push
to the maximum race after race."

"If on Saturday all would have gone well, I could have caught the pole," he said.

"But after I had been beaten by my teammate I knew that my cards had
already been played. When you know when your teammate is going to pit,
there is hardly anything to do, above all if you are the one who has to
stop before him.

"I got really close to Felipe just once, but we were at the end of
the second stint. My car was really, really good: I could have gone
much faster than I was.

"The most important thing was that the team gained as many points as
possible, so there was no point in taking unnecessary risks. Anyway, we
have reduced the gap: that is what we wanted, but just like in Budapest
my race was quite boring.
"Thinking about what could have been done in a different way doesn’t
change anything. I made a mistake in my last attempt in Q3 and I paid
the consequences. I hope that next time we will have a perfect weekend."