“So far, the season has not been ideal and we haven’t got the results we expected, but the most important thing now for me is to try and have good races. Compared to last year, it hasn’t been a disaster, we are in the fourth place in the Championship and second as a team and we have all the tools to do better.
After a bad race in Austria we hope to have a good weekend here: I like this place, there’s a lot of tradition in motor racing. Maybe I enjoyed more the original layout, it was more flowing, similar to Monza or Spa, but it is always a nice place to come to. Now it’s too early to say what will happen, so far we have been more or less the same in every track, so I don’t expect here to be anything less than that. Here it’s often quite windy and this can make it tricky for everybody. We have the speed and all the tools to avoid mistakes. If we got rid of all the small issues, we could have good results.” [via ferrarif1.com]
Q: Kimi, the GPDA fans’ survey revealed that you are the most popular Formula One driver it would seem, amongst those polled. What’s your reaction to that?
Kimi RAIKKONEN: I think it’s a good thing. I would rather take the fans than not having them. Obviously, some people… maybe I was lucky that they were ones that answered the survey, but I’m happy to have fans and obviously that’s a good thing.
Q: What do you think it is about your character that appeals to them?
KR: You’d have to go and ask them who voted, so…
Q: There’s a few too many to do that I think. The team is telling us that retaining your seat for next season is in your hands, do you feel you are on the right track to meet their targets.
KR: I don’t know. Obviously they’ll make the decision. We try to do good races. Obviously the last race was a bit difficult but that’s part of the game, sometimes you have that. Who knows: I don’t know anything more than you guys, so I will know hopefully at some point what will happen. There are always speculations to start off the year and it’s always the same stories. It doesn’t really surprise me a lot so let’s see what happens.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, accident here last year, accident in last race in Austria, how difficult is it for you to come to this weekend?
KR: It’s a new race, different weekend. It doesn’t matter if you have an accident. It was obviously bad for our race but that’s part of the game. It doesn’t change this weekend at all. I’ve had accidents before and probably will in the future, you pay the price when things do wrong.
Q: (Mike Doodson – Grand Prix Plus) A question for Jenson and Kimi. Last weekend we had Formula E racing in London, there were a few good, old F1 names among the drivers. Did either of you see the race and would you seriously consider switching to electric racing after Formula One?
JB: To answer the second question: no. And did I watch the race? No. I have watched a race this year and the reason is, it’s not because of the cars themselves, it’s because of the drivers. There’s a lot of drivers that I’ve raced against over the years, I think there’s 13 ex-F1 drivers, and that’s what makes the category exciting: they’ve got some real talent there; they’ve done a good job of getting talented drivers in the cars. I think there’s a great place for electric racing – if that’s what you want to call it – but I think it’s great and there’s a good fight amongst the talented drivers that are there. But it’s not something that interests me. Motorsport is motorsport for me. Something that I love is the smell, the sound and the speed – and that’s what Formula One is all about.
Kimi?
KR: Yeah, actually I saw it. I saw the race and I’m not so interested in the future in some point to race them. It’s… I mean they’ve done well to go in the places that they race – I think it’s nice for people but, I mean, for me, unfortunately… we always talk here: it doesn’t go fast; it doesn’t look spectacular. They are… in my view they are pretty slow. The concept is probably nice in the future. Right now, yes, they get the good racing out of it but it doesn’t really… it’s something that doesn’t really excite me really – but obviously I’m happy for them to make such a good race series out of it.
Q: (Daan de Geus – NU.NL) Kimi, you let it be known earlier in the season that you were quite happy about the 2015 Ferrari and the way it handles and it fits your driving style. Ferrari have obviously been updating the car and made some changes to it. Do you still like the way it handles and the way it suits your way of driving?
KR: I don’t see why I wouldn’t suddenly like it; because I’ve had an accident doesn’t change anything. I’ve had accidents sometimes, like I said, it’s part of the game. We improved the car and it’s still a great car, obviously probably not fast enough to challenge Mercedes all the time but it’s a very good car and it’s a massive improvement from last year. Things go wrong sometimes but it doesn’t mean that you suddenly hate the car or you don’t like things. It’s just a part of the game. Like I said, it’s a good package and obviously we want to improve it and make it faster. Things could always be better. Even if you’re in a winning car you’re always wanting more out of it. Like I said, we’ve come such a long way from last year which people always forget. We’re still a work in progress to improve things.
| Source: crash.net | espn.co.uk |
Video – Press conference
OTHER STUFF
Q: Did Alonso hit you or not? #Kimi7 Difficult say because lack of cameras. pic.twitter.com/qtnjgfIFda
— FansOfKimiRäikkönen (@FansOfKR) July 2, 2015
I asked Alonso once again on the situation in Austria. The distance from Kimi was now ten feet 😂 #mtvf1
— Oskari Saari (@OskariSaari) July 2, 2015
Vettel on why Raikkonen will bounce back & should keep his Ferrari #F1 seat for 2016: http://t.co/b2JFnt0SYa pic.twitter.com/cBsqhHoAWq
— AUTOSPORT (@autosport) July 2, 2015
KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN SPACE 
You are still the # 1 driver for me. Good luck and safe driving.
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massa should better take knowledge about own problems than talkwith the press about problems from others !!!
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He is still popular no doubt. I just hope his fortunes take a turn for the better from Britain onwards, I really do. Kimi deserves so much more than accidents, bad luck and technical issues… Bottom line: He’s a damn good driver!
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he going to win this Sunday
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