Kimi Extends Ferrari Contract To 2010! | Exclusive Interviews with Kimi

From Autosport.com

Ferrari have extended reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen’s deal
to the end of the 2010 season, ending speculation that Fernando Alonso
will be joining the team.

A team statement read: "Ferrari announces that it has extended its
agreement with Kimi Raikkonen to the end of the 2010 race season.

"Therefore, the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver line-up remains unchanged for the next two coming seasons."

Raikkonen’s teammate, Felipe Massa, signed a deal through to the end of 2010 last year.

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‘Retiring Never Crossed My Mind, Only Yours!’ – Raikkonen

Q. It is looking very good today?

KR: It is probably the best that the car has been. Little by
little we have found what we want for the car and at least today it was
pretty good.

Q. You have extended your contract, are you more positive now?

KR: I haven’t been worrying about anything. It was my
decision, so I knew what I could do and what is possible. It doesn’t
change anything for this year or the future – I still try to do the
best I can. And hopefully now we have started to find the way we want
and hopefully we can get a good result.

Q. In the race conditions do you feel you are on a par with the McLaren?

KR: Today it looks like we are faster. I am very happy with how things are today.

Q. Was signing a new contract a difficult decision to make?

KR: No. I enjoy it here. Of course when you have a hard time
it is sometimes not easy, but it doesn’t mean you don’t enjoy the
driving, or I am not motivated. It is just not fun when things are not
always as you want, but we have been working hard and getting things
where we want which is the main thing.

Q. So retirement was never an option then?

KR: I never said it was. It was all you guys. It was not what
I said. I said I had a contract for the next year at least and then we
see after that. I have a couple more years and we look when the times
comes for what happens after that.

Q. Why did you decide to stay at Ferrari?

KR: I always had a contract for next year anyway. I never
said I was going to retire, it came from you guys. I still enjoy it. I
still drive as well as I can. Sometimes when the results are not coming
it is not such good fun but it doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy it. It
was not a very difficult choice. I enjoy working with the people, so I
am happy.

Q. So an easy decision to make?

KR: I knew that I had next year so I could have waited even longer, but we came to a solution with the team and everyone happy.

Q. And you feel Ferrari are best placed to help you win another championship?

KR: I wouldn’t go anywhere else. I won last year and we are
still not out this year. I still enjoy it, even though sometimes it is
not such good fun. When the results are not coming, it is nothing to do
with the team or me – it is just that we didn’t get it right together.
We are making things go in the right direction though.

This is brilliant. One of the most biggest speculations of the year, and clearly a misjudged one, was destroyed today with Kimi extending his Ferrari contract. Even though it’s only extended for one more full season in 2010, it gives us plenty of time to enjoy our hero more. He spent five years at McLaren after just his debut season in Formula One in 2001 with Sauber, only to leave the team with 9 victories, 12 pole positions, 19 fastest laps and 36 podiums. And two closely missed opportunities for the world titles in 2003 and 2005.

So, it can be only happy news for us Kimi fans, and for the man himself. Despite winning his long fought for first world title in 2007 on his debut season with Ferrari, that wasn’t the end. Only the beginning! And after his fight back in Spa last weekend, it looks set to continue here on Ferrari home ground, at Monza. "It’s probably the best the car has been," says Kimi, after today’s practise sessions. That’s just put a huge smile on my face, and no doubt his own. It’s great news, so cheers to all you Kimi fans out there! Enjoy the exclusive interview with Kimi from Formula1.com below and those hilariously cute pictures:

Never underestimate a sly old fox. When most had
discounted him as a title contender, last year Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen
gave his competitors a dressing down in the season’s final races and
walked away with the crown. With a 19-point deficit on championship
leader Lewis Hamilton, Raikkonen seems to be facing a similar situation
in 2008, though now with team mate Felipe Massa also among his rivals.
Ferrari haven’t yet picked a favourite, but the Finn knows he must
perform well in Monza if he is to stay in the picture…

Q: Kimi, how is life as the reigning world champion? You have been
in the public eye for quite a while but the title must have increased
attention on you? How do you deal with that?

Kimi Raikkonen: It’s true, it increased but it has not changed any
normal living. I wouldn’t say that anything is different for myself –
and the racing is still the same. But yes, it’s nice to be the champ. I
always wanted to achieve that – and it’s something that can never be
taken away from me. This is the really great part!

Q: Driving for Ferrari is every aspiring young race driver’s dream. Is it a dream come true for you?

KR: It was a dream at one point for me as I always wanted to come
into Formula One and be with a top team. So far I’ve been lucky to be
in two top teams. I enjoy being here and I had a fantastic time last
year – when I joined last season, I had more fun than I have had in a
long time. It is a great place to be, working with all these 120
percent-committed people. And red suits me, I would say.

Q: This season must be like a deja vu for you. As in 2007, you are
playing catch up in the title race. But what is different to last
season?

KR: Well, so far it has not been the easiest year. There have been
a lot of difficulties lately, but that is part of racing sometimes. We
have had some issues in getting the car exactly how we want it. We had
a strong first part of the season and then we faced some problems. It
has been difficult, yes, and hopefully we can turn it around a bit and
get some good results. It is not too late yet – but it is getting
difficult with every race. Let’s wait and see how it develops.

Q: Last year it was you against Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
This year the title match involves your team mate. That obviously
doesn’t make things easier…

KR: Of course not. But again, that is part of racing. At the end of
the day, it does not matter who it is – you need to beat all of them.
So it doesn’t make any difference if it is your team mate or somebody
else. You need to be in front of everybody if you want to win.

Q: But teams can concentrate their efforts on one driver…

KR: We have never had that situation. Of course last year when it
was clear that the other car had no chance – points-wise – then it was
a different story. But as long as we have every chance, we need to take
them. Until that ‘no-chance situation’ comes, it is up to us to move
forward – or to come back in my case.

Q: If your chances decrease, will you play the role of supporter to Felipe?

KR: When I clearly have no chance at all then it is a different
story. But then that is not up to me. First Felipe needs to be in a
position where he can try to win, and then if there is something that
the team will benefit from, then it might be yes. But until that
situation comes, I am not interested in talking about it.



Q: The championship is still wide open with five races to go and 50
points up for grabs. At what point would you accept that your chances
to win the title have evaporated?

KR: As I just said, when it is clear that I will not be able to make enough points.

Q: In Spa you drove for all or nothing. In hindsight, would you do it all over again or settle for securing some points?

KR: I wanted to win – or nothing. Unfortunately I got nothing that
time, but at least I had more fun that at many races before. And what
are sure points? I needed more points than the others, so realistically
I was in a position where I didn’t have much to lose, so I went for it.
Afterwards it is always easy to say that by playing safe I would have
probably ended in second place, but that is not the right way to win. I
want to win it on the circuit rather than after the race. What happened
in Spa happened. Again, that’s racing.

Q: The F2008 seems to be a very different machine to last year’s
car. Are you still struggling to adapt your driving style to its
characteristics?

KR: I would not say that the car is so different to last year. It
is more about getting the tyres the way you want them to behave – that
is the biggest issue. But then again, they are the same for everybody.
When you compare the tyres from a couple of years ago, what we have now
is completely different. So hopefully next year when we get the slick
tyres it will be more as it used to be – meaning that it will be more
fun to drive. And it’s not about wanting the old car back, it is more
about getting the package right for us. And the last races indicated
that we are on the right track.

Q: Monza is Ferrari’s backyard. It’s almost an obligation to
succeed here. You have never won this race. How much ambition is there
to walk away with the trophy on Sunday?

KR: I have never made it here although the chances were there. It
would of course be great to win here – especially as it is the home
Grand Prix for Ferrari. And hopefully we are in a position on Sunday to
fight for it – that would be great.

Q: What about you and Felipe? Is there a rivalry?

KR: It is like at any other race. I try to win, he tries to win. This is normal procedure in a top team.

Q: You wouldn’t die for it, but what would a race win here be worth to you?

KR: Of course not. But be assured that I really want to win here
and it would make me more happy than in a long time to be on the top
spot of the podium on Sunday.

Q: Were you satisfied with the test here two weeks ago. Did it give you any indication of what your performance level will be?

KR: The test was not bad. It was definitely better than where we
were one year ago, so we should have quite a good chance of a good
result, but it depends on many things. If we get everything running
well and the weather stays nice, that would improve our chances.

Q: All that sounds as if you are still enjoying racing…

KR: I would not be here otherwise!