Post-race interview with Kimi: I wanted to win

Source: lotusf1team.com

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Kimi clinched his first podium in only his fourth race since returning to Formula 1 this season at the Bahrain Grand Prix this afternoon. Despite the result however and in typical fashion, the Finn was left thinking about the victory that might have been.

Q: Kimi, your first podium of the season here in Bahrain today; you must be delighted?

KR: I am very happy. At last, we made the podium after a few missed opportunities. We had the car already in the first three races to be up there, but we made some small mistakes and it cost us a lot. Of course I wanted to win today, and I would have been much happier if we had managed to get the victory, but nevertheless it’s a good result and the team deserved it for all their hard work. Hopefully we can put ourselves in this position more often.

Q: How close were you to taking the win?

KR: We weren’t far away from the win at all. I had one chance, but my move on Sebastian (Vettel) did not quite work. That was my only opportunity but I couldn’t take it as I chose the wrong side. Then, my tyres dropped off and that was it. I pretty much knew that was my only shot. Hopefully we can put ourselves in this position more often to have a chance. We have to work hard and improve certain areas of the car and I’m sure we can be up there more often and try to get the win.

Q: Did you have any problems during the race?

KR: We gave ourselves a chance at least and it’s a bit disappointing that we didn’t manage to win, but I made a small mistake at the beginning and lost one place to Felipe (Massa). I had to re-overtake him and that took a little time. Then, I could pass the people quite easily but ultimately it still look too long and as a result we couldn’t win the race.

Q: Is this result a relief after a difficult Chinese Grand Prix last week?

KR: After the last race, when we tried hard and then we failed, I think people probably thought we were a bit stupid. They must have thought the same after yesterday, but our decision turned out to be right one. The team deserves what we achieved here. We have been working hard in the background and I have not been 100 per cent happy with how the weekends have gone so far, but we finally got a proper result for the team so it is an important step.

Q: Did you lose time when trying to overtake Romain early in the race?

KR: Maybe, but there are no team orders and we know the rules – I tried to get past as quickly as I could, but it is difficult with two similar cars. It’s always easy to say what we should have done afterwards, but in the end we were not fast enough to win, so we had to take second.