COULTHARD & VILLENEUVE ON FERRARI TEAMMATES

David Coulthard: “Some people see it as being just a question of time for when it goes wrong, but I see it differently because I don’t think that Kimi is a political animal,” Coulthard said. “I was team-mates with him at McLaren, he was just asleep and/or driving the car quickly. I believe he will continue to do the same thing at Ferrari.

“Across the season you have to expect Fernando to be able to get more out of the package just because of familiarity with the team, speaking the language. It’s been built around him over the last few years; even though it’s a big regulation change the basis of the car which you sit in has been developed around him. But we could be surprised, they’re both world champions.”

“Whether Kimi is the wrong side of the curve age-wise; more than age really it’s about the fact that you accumulate a certain amount of negativity and disappointment during your career and that baggage builds up. No career is full of success, success, success, and it’s just a case of whether you eventually get p****d off, fed up and want to go off to do something else.

“So it will be intriguing to watch the two, but I don’t see the fireworks – negative fireworks – I see positive fireworks driving each other on.”

Jacques Villeneuve (speaking to Italian media) via LorenzoDeLuca: “Kimi and Alonso don’t have to be friends! Looking at the mess that Alonso had done last year, Ferrari could not only bet on him. If Kimi will be faster, Fernando will not be happy. But also the opposite, because Kimi pretends to be the “Iceman” but he’s hot-blooded.”

“The new regulation that requires you to save fuel, favors Kimi, who knows how to manage the consumption better. Kimi is perfect for this F1, because he knows how to manage the car in the race as few people know. while Alonso needs to push from start.”

“[For] the first time I see Kimi so concentrated, he is perhaps preparing one of his best seasons.”