Ferrari and Kimi Party in Mugello

Next year will be easier, says Raikkonen

Kimi, who last week clinched the title in Brazil against all
odds with one point advantage, told reporters at Mugello today: "Next year should be
easier not just for me but also for the team.

"This year we had some difficulties to get the car right, as I
wanted. We’ll see what we do for the new car. It’s very hard to say at
this point how good the car will be.

"But we have great expectations. We’ll see what happens next year. But we have a good feeling."

Raikkonen also said he was looking forward to the ban on traction
control, which takes effect next season, and expressed his belief that
the ban will improve the racing.

"When I came to Formula One, we didn’t have traction control," he
commented. "There are so many things coming up. I think it’ll be good
fun and more challenging, too. And taking the traction control away
will give us more opportunities to overtake."

His teammate Felipe Massa, however, was more reserved, as he
admitted he has not driver a Formula One car without traction control
yet.

"I haven’t yet driven cars without traction control, but it’s just a matter of habit," the Brazilian stated.

"We’ll see if we need to change our driving style or we need to change the car."

The new world champion said he was happy to win his maiden title championship with Ferrari. According to him, Ferrari listens to their drivers and you don’t have to be talking to a wall. Kimi also spoke about his parents and said that he doesn’t want any big celebrations in Finland and would like to just party with his friends.

The IceMan prepares for a long holiday from next week and will be unlikely to test before January. Kimi intends to win the championship next season, but said that it’s going to be difficult as usual. He also thinks that Ferrari and McLaren will be the strongest teams competing next season.

Todt says he would never have bet on Raikkonen win

Ferrari boss Jean Todt says he would never have bet on Kimi Raikkonen becoming world champion when the Italian team were struggling with reliability earlier in the season.

Finn Raikkonen took the drivers’ title by one point from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso after winning the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix last Sunday.

"To tell the truth, I would not have bet on this victory," Todt told reporters on Sunday at a title-winning party at the Tuscan track of Mugello.

"For us, 2007 was a year of transition in many ways. The team was not cemented and we paid for it with the reliability but I hope we will not repeat this next year."

Raikkonen must wait until a hearing on Nov. 15 to be sure he is world champion after McLaren launched an appeal against the decision not to penalise three drivers in Sao Paulo because of fuel irregularities.

Should the three drivers have their results nullified, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton would win enough points to be crowned champion instead.

"The drivers’ standings are not yet definitive. But for us what is more important is to have won the world championship on the track and no one can take that away from us," Todt added.

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