Q&A with Kimi

From Autosport.com

Q. Kimi, last year there were rumours about you retirement. What are your plans?

Kimi Raikkonen:
There is speculation. There has always been speculation in Formula One.
Of course these days it is always difficult in Formula One in every
way, but I don’t have pressure outside. I want to win and I give a hard
time to myself and we’ll see. Like I said there is a two years contract
we’ll see what happens after that.

Q. The new rules tend to favour a grippy front-end and produce an oversteery car. Is that a good thing for you?

KR: I think you can change the car a lot to how you like it
and of course now the rules are slightly more difficult, with the
weight and everything. It depends on the weight of the drivers how much
we can change it, but if I can choose then definitely I prefer
oversteer to understeer. I think that the tyres plays a big part of it
also, I don’t know exactly how the car will be, that’s why we have to
wait until next week when it will be slightly more easy to say. It all
depends.

Q. Last year Luca di Montezemolo said that it was not you, but your brother driving, what do you think of this?

KR: I have one brother, but he definitely didn’t drive the car! I read the same story, but he was joking and that’s about it.

Q. Yesterday Stefano Domenicali mentioned that they tried to
design the car more to suit you, can you explain what sort of input you
have had into the design and how the team has worked with you in terms
of how the car will be set-up?

KR: We worked all year together last year, we wanted
something slightly different in some areas but of course it’s difficult
to make big changes during the year. We tried many things and we were
talking about stuff we would like to try at least and see how it is,
but for sure the whole year that we worked there is some ideas and like
I said next year we will see how it worked. Definitely, everybody is
pushing hard to improve.

Q. Which of the three new technologies, KERS, slicks or the aero regulations will be the most difficult to adapt to and why?

KR: Like I said, they are the biggest changes for many years
in Formula One. I don’t have an idea how it will be all together. We
have tried the tyres, but it was last year’s car. We tried to take the
downforce off to get it more close to where it should be this year, but
it is still not the same car so, with everything together we should
know better next week. But it is interesting and hopefully it will
improve the racing, and that will be much better for all of us.

For sure it will be difficult for the teams to get everything
working well together – we don’t have much testing before the season,
and no testing during the season. So it is up to the teams, and it will
be whoever gets everything working and gets the best out of the
package. But I don’t know what it feels like because I haven’t driven
the car. We will have to wait and see.

Q. There have been changes to the team structure, including Chris
Dyer moving to a new job. So you have a new race engineer, how is that
relationship developing?

KR: I have been working with him for two years, like I have
with Chris. It’s nothing strange, but need new challenges. We had a
good time with Chris, of course we won in the first and year and didn’t
last year, but it is nothing to do with that we couldn’t have worked,
like people have said. We have a very good relationship, but
unfortunately sometimes people want to try something different.

I know Andrea (Stella) very well. I have been working with him as
long as I have with Chris. We did the test together and it seems to be
okay and I’m expecting to have a good year with him. And Chris is there
doing different things but he is still pushing for the whole team to
improve and get better so, it is not a big change in the end.

Q. You are not anymore the world champion, has that changed your life and approach to racing?

KR: I am still (a world champion), just not last year, but no
it hasn’t. It didn’t changed my life at all even when I won the
previous year. People always expect you to do well, win races and win
championships so, in that way it doesn’t really change anything.
Hopefully this year we can improve it again and be up there and at
least fight for it and we will go from there.

Q. You won in your first season, when you approached your second
did you not consider Massa as a great competitor, but now that Massa
has developed a lot, how do you approach the season that you have a
teammate that was much stronger than before?

KR: I wouldn’t say that I didn’t expect him to be strong. I
mean we were fighting the first year all the time. We were similar
points, it was very late in the (2007) season when it went my way, and
it was a similar situation last year. It went one way then it turned
around and went this way, so it has really been more-or-less similar
both years, so it was nice to see him have a very good season. So I
have no reason to change my way of doing things this year than in the
past, he has always been a strong, fast guy so we will see what happens
this year.

Q. Do you think you were fairly represented by the press coverage last year, or do you think you were just unlucky?

KR: No for sure, I made some mistakes and the team made some
mistakes at some points, but that is part of racing. Everybody makes
mistakes and we go through the bad and the good times together.
Sometimes there is luck involved but also the luck comes from how you
work, sometimes it is with you and sometimes against you. It is up to
me and the guys around me to get the best out of it. Sometimes you are
lucky, sometimes not, but it doesn’t change anything anymore so if it
is something to do with luck, then hopefully this year we will have it.

Q. What can you promise the Ferrari fans for this year, and
secondly what was the turning point that lost you the championship last
year?

KR: First of all, we made some wrong choices and some
mistakes. And then it took too long to recover from those. But there is
no point to talk about last year, that is past, and we can’t change it
anymore. And the other question… I always try to win and hopefully we
can win championships this year, but I’m not going to promise anything
and put my hand on my heart because maybe it won’t happen. We are just
going to try and do the best weekend and be back on the top podium
position. Like I said it is still early days so we need to do the work
and hopefully it will work out.

Q. Kimi, do you have any reservations about KERS safety?

KR: You hear a lot of things and one guy got an electric
shock at BMW, but I think the team for sure knows what is safe and what
isn’t, and if it wasn’t safe we wouldn’t put it in the car risk anybody
getting hurt. For me it is okay, if we get more horsepower out of it
and we get everything working well, I think it is a good thing.

Q. Would gold medals motivate you more for race wins, or do you feel motivated enough?

KR: Whether they are medals or trophies doesn’t make any
difference, if you win, you win. That’s what is everybody wants and
everybody likes so if you get a gold medal out of it or a big trophy it
makes no difference. You want the maximum points and the feeling from
the win so I don’t think it changes anything at all.

Q. What’s your feeling about the in-season testing ban, you’ll have more time for your life, but less time to develop the car?

KR: It’s the same for everybody, these are the new rules in
Formula One. It’s a big change for everyone and it is to try and save
money. If the car is quick straight away then I have no issues at all,
it’s a good thing. But if the team’s have problems then it is going to
be very difficult to fix them because you won’t have any testing or
time on the circuit to try things. We will see how it goes, for sure
the team will come it with some things, so we will not have so much
time off. We will still be developing the car and putting new things on
the car on Fridays. Of course there will be less driving than this
year, but a lot will have to do with how quick the car is straight away.

Q. So how will you approach your weekends, taking into account the fact that you will do development testing on Fridays?

KR: I don’t know how we are going to work the whole weekend
through, but I think it is going to be slightly different than the last
few years, because of the rule changes. For sure we have time enough to
fix the set-up and try different things. That’s how it has been last
year and the year before, the Friday’s more trying things and try to
find better set-ups, but also we have been bringing in new parts and
trying them. Probably Fridays will be more like a test day now, but we
will see how it goes. For sure the team has an idea how we are going to
run our weekends through, but I don’t know we haven’t gone through it
yet.

Q. You recently met the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, what can you tell us about this meeting?

KR: I was asked to go there and meet him and we had some
talks together. It was nice to meet him, he seems to be a very open and
nice guy. That’s about it.

Q. What do you think about having your salary capped?

KR: There has always been a lot of talk but I don’t think it is going to happen.

Q. But in a world where we have serious economic problems and
people losing their jobs, do you think it’s justified that you are paid
the kind of money you get paid?

KR: I don’t really want to get involved in the whole thing so…

Q. You will probably have to use the car simulator more this year
because of the testing ban, but we know that you don’t like this tool.
Will this be a problem for you this year?

KR: We are going to get a new one this year and at some point
this will improve the situation. Some areas maybe you learn something
out it, some not. I don’t know, I’ve no plans to be there every second
day so we’ll see how it works.

Q. Does it help you to have a teammate that is up there pushing
at the front, does it help and encourage you? And as a former world
champion, do you think that Lewis Hamilton will be under more pressure
this year having won the title?

KR: I don’t think it is going to affect him. He’s always been
strong so I expect him to be strong this year also. People always say
that if you have a strong teammate it helps you to go faster, but I
think you always try to go as fast as you can and there other people
that you need to beat also so you cannot just drive slow if you have a
slow teammate.

The team expect you to win races so that is my aim, and I have never
really felt that if you have a strong teammate you go even faster, you
always try to go as fast as you can.

Q. With regards to your salary, you say you don’t want to get
involved in that. But that could be viewed by the outside world as
slightly arrogant way of viewing that when there are thousands of
people losing their jobs and you are paid millions. How can you say it
is right that you earn all that money in this sort of climate that we
are in?

KR: That’s why I said I don’t want to get involved in this
talk with you because I know that you will try to find some bad out of
it. I have always said that I am not interested in getting involved in
this type of conversation.

Q. There will be no French Grand Prix this year or next year, do
you regret that and what do you think about the Magny-Cours circuit?

KR: For me it was quite a nice place and the circuit was nice
to race. Of course I think for some people it was in the middle of
nowhere but for us it was quite a relaxing. So I actually quite liked
the place so it is a shame that we don’t have the race anymore but
hopefully it will come back some time.

Q. Kimi, you’ve said you’ll carry on in F1 as long as you enjoy
it. How much are you enjoying it at the moment with all the appearances
you have to make and the stuff you have to do away from the car?

KR: Like I said before I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have
the motivation or the hunger to be here anymore in F1. Even the last
year wasn’t exactly what we wanted, it doesn’t change how much I like
F1. I enjoy it. I have great team behind me and they let me go quite
easily with the other things and they make everything as easy for
everybody as they can.

I’m in a very good position in that way and I’m very happy to work
with the team so. I mean I am now in a contract for this year and next
year and then I will see how I feel, how how the Formula One is going
and then decide about the future.

Q. Do you think Fernando Alonso can be a title contender this
year and also Stefano Domenicali says you live on your own planet, how
is the life on your planet?

KR: It’s good! I have nothing to complain about. About
Fernando, everybody knows that he is a good driver, but it depends a
lot how good a car (Renault) make, last year they made it stronger than
it was at the beginning. So if they have improved in the same way, they
will be there up front fighting for the races, but I think we need to
wait and see how all the teams compare against each other then it is
more easy to see who is the favourite for the championship.

Q. You are doing the Arctic Rally. Would you do more of that if you were able to?

KR: I don’t know really. It’s no secret that I like the rally
and it is something I always wanted to do, since I was a kid. I am
happy to have a chance to do it, we will see what happens. I have no
experience of it so hopefully I don’t need to make too much snow work
when I get there. We will see what happens in the future.

Q. Does the team mind you doing it?

KR: The team is quite open to what I can do, there are a lot
of hobbies that I like that are maybe not the most safest things, but I
always try not to take any risks and I am happy that they allow me to
do it. I think it helps in every way, everybody is happy and it is good
practice if you drive anything, go-kart, rally, any kind of driving. It
is always going to help you in your own work so it’s not a bad thing.

Q. For two years there have been rumours about Alonso and
Ferrari, but there are never rumours about Raikkonen and another team,
is this because you have ruled out the possibility of switching teams
again or not?

KR: I said already that this is probably my last team that I
am going to race with in Formula One. I am very happy and I have no
reason to go anywhere else. I mean everybody knows that I have a
contract for this year and next year and for sure people will not talk
about you going somewhere else if they know you have a contract so… I
don’t mind, I am very happy here and it is an easy thing to say that I
want to stay here.

Q. Maybe this is a crazy question, but can you describe to the people outside how it looks on your planet?

KR: I think people take that a different way from what
Stefano meant. I am still here so. I just like to keep my things
private and I don’t really want to show it to people so probably he
meant that more.

Q. In a time of economic gloom, is it positive to have a new
Grand Prix coming up in Abu Dhabi, and what are views for the
championship?

KR: It is definitely not easy for Formula One with the
economic crisis, but it is also not easy for anybody in normal life. I
think when Abu Dhabi decided to come to F1 this kind of thing wasn’t
happening. So I hope that they can finish everything and make a nice
race for us. I have seen the plan and what they have built so far and
it looks very nice. I am very happy to go there and have a race there,
but for sure it is not the easiest time for them either, or for F1 to
go there. But I am looking forward to go there anyway.

Q. Michael Schumacher will now continue with the team for a third
year as an advisor, do you think his presence in the team has been
positive?

KR: Definitely nothing negative. He has a lot of experience
as we’ve seen, and I think he is going to play a similar part as the
last two years, and I think he still has a contract with the team for
this year. You really need to ask him and the team what exactly his
part is, but he is not going to harm the team so for sure it is a good
thing.

Wow! What a brilliant interview, and it’s a very long one so I have to personally thank Kimi for putting up with it (we adore you Kimi, so it’s nice to hear from you every once in a while!) For every question presented (even though some were just plain stupid, repetitive and rude like the salary subject), Kimi always gives a good answer – particularly the question about him not being the world champion anymore. What does Kimi reply? "I am still a world champion, just not last year’s". He is just so cool, level-headed and self-controlled. I love that about him. And what of the planet question, referring to what Domenicali said yesterday? "I am still here so". Brilliant! He knows how cheeky and rude journalists can be and so he refuses to talk about something he doesn’t like.

I spent my afternoon attending to some chores, had a shower, and reading this interview had made me feel even more fresh (maybe all the pictures from Wrooom in the snow has something to do with it!) What a great start to 2009. Keep Flying Kimi!