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July 03 F1 GP Highlights: Britain 2009 While we still wait on another long F1-break, for me it has been busy busy busy and hot hot hot! I didn't want to keep you guys waiting too long, but I'm sure two weeks was pushing it! That was a long enough break so finally here is the highlight video from Silverstone. As I'm sure all of you have learnt of Michael Jackson's passing away just over a week ago, I made this video in tribute to this man by using one of his best tracks - "Just Beat It". I love his music and was saddened by the news. I also think it's quite fitting that it's the British Grand Prix weekend video to dedicate to Michael Jackson, considering that he was to perform his big final concerts here in London. So, I really hope you will enjoy this British GP highlight video of 2009, whether you happen to be a Jackson fan or a Raikkonen fan, or even both. Kimi's attitude is perfect in this video if you understand Michael Jackson's lyrics. Long-time fans of Kimi will know what I mean! Keep flying, Evenstar  Size: 57.5MB | Duration: 07.23mins | Download via Mediafire or Megaupload Music SoundTrack: "Just Beat It" by Michael Jackson June 29 Kimi Going For Rally Finland! From Autosport.com | Q&A with Kaj Lindstrom  Ferrari Formula 1 driver Kimi Raikkonen will make his World Rally
Championship debut when he contests his home round of the series, Rally
Finland, next month.
Raikkonen has already competed in three rallies this year, but the Jyvaskyla-based ninth round of the WRC will be his first competitive outing on gravel. The Finn, who won the F1 world championship with Ferrari in 2007, tested the Abarth Grande Punto for two days in central Finland earlier this week. Raikkonen will be co-driven by Kaj Lindstrom, the former co-driver of four-time world champion Tommi Makinen. Makinen's own racing team will run the Abarth for Raikkonen. Lindstrom has contested Rally Finland 10 times, finishing sixth twice with Makinen, and admits the 29-year-old Raikkonen will face a difficult task when he starts his first WRC round. "Rally Finland is not going to be easy for sure," said Lindstrom. "The rallies we have done so far have been smaller events, a three-day WRC round is much longer and more intense than those national events. "And it doesn't just start with the rally, we have two days to go through the recce and make the notes. Kimi makes very good pace notes, but there will be pressure on for the recce." Lindstrom added that his driver's absence of gravel experience will also make his task tougher next month. "He has competed on snow and asphalt, but never gravel, but we have tested on gravel," said Lindstrom. "But one of the hardest things for Kimi will be the speed of this event. Rally Finland and the roads used are so fast, like nothing we have done before - that does take time. "But, let's not forget, this guy is a pretty good driver! He's very talented and I'm sure he will cope fine." Raikkonen finished 13th in the Arctic Rally in January, his rally debut. He returned to snow rallying and held seventh overall in the Vaakuna Rally, before putting the Abarth off the road and ending the event 17th. His asphalt debut came on the Rally della Marca in Italy in May, where he damaged a wheel and retired on the third stage. Interview with Kimi's co-driver Ferrari Formula 1 driver Kimi Raikkonen and his co-driver Kaj Lindstrom have just completed their first test for Rally Finland. Lindstrom told AUTOSPORT about the last two days and how Raikkonen is progressing in their Tommi Makinen Racing-run Super 2000 Abarth. Q. How was the test? Kaj Lindstrom: It was okay. Actually, it was more than okay, it was very good. We did some work with the suspension and the differential. By the time we had finished, the car was running definitely better than at the start of the test. There's still some work for us to do before the next test, but we've made a good step forward. It was good for Kimi to be on the gravel as well - and in some kind of conditions that we could expect on the event itself: the sun was shining and we had 24 degrees. Q. How many kilometres did you do? KL: I can't remember in the first day, but yesterday we did about 130 or something like that. Really, it was about making the car suitable for him. Everybody tends to be going the same way with these kind of cars and, of course, Tommi has done some driving in the car. Q. Did you find some big jumps? KL: We were testing in the Jyvaskyla area, so it wasn't hard to find a road with big jumps! Q. Do you think he will be ready for the jumps at end of Ruuhimaki? KL: We've got another test before the event and by the time we get to Ruuhimaki on Sunday afternoon we'll have done a few jumps, so I'm sure he'll be ready for them. Q. You've co-driven Tommi to victory on a World Rally Championship round and sat with other rally drivers, how does Kimi compare with them? KL: Obviously, Kimi's knowledge on rally cars is not the same as Tommi, but the feedback from Kimi is always accurate and the same as what Tommi is saying. The difference is that, given he is a four-time World Rally champion, Tommi has a much wider knowledge of what is available to put the problems right with the car, he knows the full range of alternatives, whereas Kimi is still learning about those. Right from the start though, right from the first test I did with Kimi in Rovaniemi at the start of the season, his talent inside the car is quite clear to see. One of the best things about working with Kimi is that you can constantly see the improvements. He is going forward all of the time. When you tell him some tips to do something like this or like that, he takes that information and uses it straight away. He learns something on every rally, and that was clear at the test as well. Q. And are you both looking forward to Rally Finland? KL: Of course, it's always nice to do an event like Finland. And for Kimi it's always been some sort of dream for him to do that rally. And, like I said, it's good for me to do Finland, this will be my 11th time on my home WRC round. Q. But there's going to be a lot of interest in you both... KL: Yes, there will be a lot of people coming to the rally just to see Kimi, but I think that's a good thing for the WRC and for the whole show. At the moment, some of the WRC rounds are not so interesting and they need some kind of a boost - and this is going to be good for Finland. Q. How are you physically? I thought your hip operation - following the accident you had in Argentina 2002 - had ruled you out of any more co-driving? KL: I saw the FIA doctors last year and they gave me the green light to be back in the car. That's how this is possible for me. It's good to be back in business. June 27 Ferrari Considering Early Focus On 2010 Car From Autosport.com | Catch the latest Ferrari news  Ferrari has dropped a firm hint that it will soon switch its focus
on to the 2010 car, with its current F60 having failed to prove a match
for the race-winning Brawn and Red Bull Racing cars.
Having scored just one podium finish so far this year, the team has little chance of turning its fortunes around in time to battle for the title. And that is why Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has suggested that the team will soon start shifting its efforts on to making sure that it gets its 2010 car spot on. "I am confident we can improve our performance in the next races, but having said that it is quite difficult if not impossible really to dramatically change the car during the season without tests," di Montezemolo told the official Ferrari website. "When you have a car at the beginning of the season with certain characteristics it is difficult to change it during the season between one race and the other. "But I am very confident we can improve our performances in the next race, and then we will be fully concentrated to next year's car, without KERS, with clear rules after the important agreement that we have been very pleased to find with the FIA last week." Di Montezemolo has once again blamed the early season uncertainty over double-decker diffusers for playing a part in Ferrari's troubles this season. "Unfortunately we started the season with grey rules," he said. "It is difficult to give a correct interpretation, and the proof is that the three teams that have won the last F1 world championship - like Ferrari, McLaren and Renault have made the same interpretation of the rules, and they are not as competitive as before. "This is one of the reasons of our battle, to have rules more stable, clear, transparent, and we have done the car with the KERS, it means more weight on the car and a lot of other teams have not done the KERS. "So if the federation wants to introduce the KERS, it has to be the same for everybody. Now I think it is time to go back to clear rules." June 23 Kimi's Column: British GP Review From Ferrari.com  We had some pretty interesting improvements on
the F60 at Silverstone, such as an improved front suspension and a new
front wing. On such a fast track it was important to understand how
much downforce we could have: we can say for sure that the car wasn't
bad in terms of the set up, but we're still missing downforce to be
able to compete with the leaders. Having said that, the developments go
in the right direction.
The qualifying seemed very promising. I was very happy with my lap in Q2, but then, when I had refueled the car didn't go as good anymore. Starting from the fifth row my goal was to gain some points. This time I had a good start: the main straight is quite long, but it wasn't enough to pass Nakajima. I came on the grass and then I was on fifth position, impossible to gain more, because my first stint was too short. I couldn't overtake: in the fast corners at Silverstone it's very difficult to stay behind the car in front of you, especially when you have less fuel on board than the first ten cars on the grid. So I had a difficult race. In the end I gained one point. Better than nothing, but still a poor result. We are on position four in the Constructors' Championship and I think that this is our current value. We're out there fighting for third position, but the two teams on the top are still ahead of us in terms of performance. After Silverstone we have two whole weeks to get ready as good as possible for the last two races before the summer break. The first of these two races is at the Nuerburgring. We'll get there with some improvements. It's a track with more slow corners and more braking points than the English circuit. We have to be more competitive, but it will also depend from the improvements the others can make. As usual. I want to congratulate Sebastian for his great race. If the Brawns had some problems we could benefit: the next circuit is very different from Silverstone. We'll see how things go before we make any conclusions. June 21 2009 Grand Prix of Britain - Kimi Finishes 8th Sunday Race Day - Vettel Takes Dominant 1-2 Victory For Red BullFull race report can be read here | British GP Photo Album  Sebastian Vettel claimed his first dry weather Formula 1 victory as Red Bull ended Jenson Button's run of success with a crushing one-two in the British Grand Prix. As Button was only able to finish sixth, Vettel's victory ahead of
his team-mate Mark Webber and Button's Brawn stablemate Rubens
Barrichello hinted that this year's world championship might not be
entirely settled yet... Classified: Not classified/retirements: News & Quotes:Donington not concerned by F1 crisis Mosley open to talks with FOTA Vettel says win not as easy as it looked Frustrated Button rues 'terrible' start Post-race press conference Domenicali: KERS a costly flop for F1 FOTA denies compromise deal is close Ferrari Team Quotes - Kimi Raikkonen - 8th : “I got a good start, but then I was unable to push as much as I could have done because I was always in traffic. Obviously, my grid position, given my fuel load, penalised me in terms of strategy. After the first run of pit stops, I found myself right behind Trulli and from then on, my race was pretty much over. I tried to pass him getting very close sometimes, but it wasn’t really on as overtaking is still very difficult. I ended up fighting with Glock but I could defend my position comfortably, both thanks to the KERS and to the fact that I actually had quite a good pace. It’s a shame, because given where I was at the end of the first lap, I could have got a better result. A single point is definitely nothing to get excited about, but it’s better than nothing. The car wasn’t bad today, much better than it had been in qualifying yesterday.” Chris Dyer: “We got the most out of a weekend that was definitely not brilliant in terms of performance. Both our drivers had great starts, getting the most of out the KERS. Then Felipe picked up a good pace that, along with the strategy, allowed him to move up quite a few places. As for Kimi, he was slowed by traffic and the key moment in his race was when Trulli came out on track ahead of him when he made his first pit stop. He was unable to pass him on the track and then, during the run of pit stops, other drivers were able to get ahead of him. Yesterday, we were rather disappointed both with our result and with our performance, but today things were definitely better: however, we have to admit there is still a great deal of work to do to be competitive at the highest level, which is where we want to be.” June 20 2009 Grand Prix of Britain, Qualifying: Kimi Starts in 9thSaturday Qualifying - Vettel Takes Pole From BarrichelloFull qualifying report can be read here | British GP Photo Album Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Schumacher frustrated by F1 politics Ecclestone open to Silverstone return Button blames unusual call for position Post-qualifying press conference Post-qualifying car weights - Kimi: 654.0kg Webber 'distracted' by Raikkonen - "I would have liked a slightly cleaner run on my last Q3 lap. Kimi was, I don't know, drinking some vodka or dreaming or something, I don't know what hell he was doing but he should have been on the right and he was on the racing line, dreaming. That wrecked my rhythm really into Stowe, I was very tight into there. Kimi couldn't have done a better job of distracting me. He was right on the racing line, on the most important lap of qualifying and it ruined my rhythm." Raikkonen says he did the best he could - "I didn't have much expectations, I didn't know exactly where we are, so overall I think we did as good a job as we could in the qualifying. Unfortunately the car is more or less where we are now. We did nothing wrong, we couldn't really go much faster. We try to do the best that we can in every race. For sure is more fun to fight for first place but that's not happening right now. We are where we are and still pushing forward and trying to improve all the time. Sometimes the races can be exciting when you are fighting in the middle of the field, but for sure we would prefer to be in front. We have improved the time all the times, but the other teams have improved it even more. We are improving all the time but other people do not stop improving." Raikkonen also claimed he did not believe he had distracted Red Bull Mark Webber, after the Australian was critical of the Finn for being in the racing line during his final flying lap. "I tried to lose to the side as much as I could, so I don't think he lost any time." Ferrari Team Quotes - Kimi Raikkonen - 9th: "To be honest, I didn't expect much more. This is our current performance level and today it was difficult to do any better. Each weekend we try our best: again on this track, the F60 was well balanced but, as we have seen so often this year, we don't have enough grip. I did a good lap in Q2 but, with race fuel on board, the car was not as quick as the others. We have improved the car in these last two races, but it seems the others have taken a bigger step forward than we have." Chris Dyer: "Definitely not a very exciting result, but it matches what we had expected from yesterday. We have improved the performance of the car since then, but not enough to fight it out with the best. Tomorrow's race will definitely be very difficult for us. We will try and do our best to get both cars home in the points."  Great pole from Vettel once again, but will Red Bull be able to exploit that in the race when it matters?! If Vettel fails as he previously did at Turkey, at least Webber is in a good position to pick up the pieces. Button couldn't outqualify Barrichello on home soil, so no doubt he is very disappointed. So Kimi made it through to the final session for 9th, unlike Massa who starts 11th. It seems both Kimi and Alonso are on similar strategies for the race; they may be heavier than those infront, as their final times were considerably slower than ther Q2 laptimes. It'll be an interesting fight between Kimi and Alonso tomorrow then! It looks like Kimi unfortunately held up Webber who was on a hot lap for pole. Webber seems quite annoyed but whatever, traffic like that always happens in qualifying, it does to Kimi sometimes too of course but you never hear him make remarks like that about drivers. Bitter sod! Anyway, hopefully Kimi has a good start, as he's starting on the clean side of the grid, because that's the key to having a progressive race. He suffered badly at Turkey off the start being on the dirty side, so he and the team will make sure it won't happen again. The weather will play a big part, so let's just wait and see what happens. Apparently during the Q3 session, Kimi gave his hand-sign wave to the camera in the garage but this was only shown by ESPN coverage (picture courtesy of Ladora). I'm looking forward to seeing a video of this because it's not often when Kimi waves to the camera when at work! ~ Keep Flying Kimi! ~ June 19 2009 Grand Prix of Britain, Practice Sessions 1, 2 & 3Free Practice 3 - Rosberg Goes FastestFull practice report can be read here  Pos Driver Team Time Laps News & Quotes:Montoya: Split would 'kill' F1 Mosley not expecting quick resolution Free Practice 2 - Vettel & Webber Stay On TopFull practice report can be read here Pos Driver Team Time Laps News & Quotes:Raikkonen blames 'egos' for F1 fallout Alonso fears the end of Formula 1 FIA to launch legal action against FOTA Ferrari stays silent on FIA's legal threat Ferrari Team Quotes - Kimi Raikkonen - 18th: "Difficult to say where we are in respect to the others: we will have to wait for tomorrow's qualifying to find out. Clearly, looking at today's results, we are definitely not in for an easy weekend. The car's not bad in terms of balance, but doesn't seem to be quick enough. The tyres are the same as in Turkey, but of course it is much cooler here: on the first lap, the performance between the two types is quite different, but then over a longer run, they tend to be similar. As predicted, there's a wind blowing on the track, but it's not as damaging as I'd expected." Chris Dyer: "We had a few little problems on both cars: nothing particularly serious but enough to slow us down in completing the programme we had planned for the two drivers. We have various new components on the F60 and now we will have to analyse the car's behaviour to try and tackle a weekend that certainly looks like being a tough one, in the best way possible." Free Practice 1 - Red Bull Top The SheetFull practice report can be read here Pos Driver Team Time Laps News & Quotes:FOTA teams to launch breakaway series FIA blames factions in FOTA for split N.Technology withdraws F1 application Horner: F1 future now in FIA's hands Ecclestone urged to broker peace deal Raikkonen will follow Ferrari out of F1 Thursday at Silverstone, FOTA To Form Breakaway Series From Ferrari.com  Wearing a thick white team fleece and a cap pulled down over his head,
Kimi Raikkonen strode into the Silverstone paddock looking as though he
had dressed for winter, on what’s been a cold English summer day. It
was straight to business facing the media to give them his expectations
for the weekend. Raikkonen: “We have some new parts on the car, but until we try them tomorrow, it’s very hard to say how they will work out. This circuit is more high speed than many of the others we have visited so far this year, so at the moment, I really have no idea how we will compare to the others this weekend. Hopefully, the new parts will behave as we expect and then we can be closer to the front than at the last race, where the circuit was more difficult for us than the previous ones.” As usual at the British GP, the weather is never far off the top of the question list. Raikkonen: “Usually when it rains here it rains a lot, but I’ve heard the weather should be better for the rest of the weekend. Whatever the conditions, I have had quite good results here usually and it is a nice circuit. There are always some tracks where you go better than others for some reason or another and I do enjoy driving here, so hopefully we can have a good race and the crowd here gets very involved in the racing and they are very enthusiastic about Ferrari too which is nice.” The Scuderia is one of the few teams that has really persevered with the KERS power boosting system and Kimi was asked how it would work here. Raikkonen: “It will be harder to charge up the system here as there is not very much braking, but we will use it and I am sure it will still be useful.” The delicate political struggle engulfing Formula 1 at the moment is due to continue over the weekend and while Kimi plans to concentrate on racing, he had this to say on the subject. Raikkonen: “There are a lot of questions to be answered and to be honest, I don’t think I’m aware of all the details, so let’s wait and see what happens tomorrow. But I don’t think we will know exactly what will be the final outcome for quite a while yet.  "I am sure the team will race somewhere, I still have
a contract and will race wherever they want me to. Of course, we all
want to be in the proper Formula 1 as it has been in the past, with
good rules. But it is not up to the drivers what happens. "I will race for the team: if it’s Formula 1 then that’s great because that’s where I want to be, as it is the most important series in the world, with the best drivers. It would be sad to lose F1 as it is.” Indeed, and it was thus announced recently this evening that the FOTA are to launch a breakaway series. The F1 websites have been covered with headlines on the ongoing FIA/FOTA dispute and F1's future. It's far from over, but this is a strong sign that F1 won't be the same again and as Kimi said - it would be sad to lose F1 as it is. Alas, there's a race for him this weekend and I'm sure he and all the other drivers and teams will put their hearts into that as they always have. This does not only apply to Kimi but to the FOTA and all the drivers - Keep Flying!June 17 Kimi's Column: British GP Preview From Ferrari.com  There’s always lots of wind at Silverstone and it often rains, even
in the summer. The track conditions are changing extremely quickly so
that it’s difficult to find the right set up for the car. Usually, when
you’re leading in the Championship, you hope for stable weather
conditions, but this year it’s different and we try to consider this
variable part of the fun of racing in England. For the first time we’re racing at Silverstone without any prior test sessions. The Team prepared some new solutions, which we will test on Friday morning: as never before this year it’s fundamental to exploit the three free practice sessions as much as possible. At Silverstone the performance in the fast corners is very important, where you need a high aero downforce. We hope that the new solutions will help us to improve in an area, which brought us into difficulties in Turkey. As I’ve said several times before we need to be patient: we’re improving thanks to the hard development work, but we’re still not able to fight for a win against the Brawns. I’m extremely confident and I’m convinced that after another couple of races we’ll have closed the gap between the leaders and us. I know that this is what our fans want from us and we’re giving it our all to succeed. It will be a difficult British GP: a place on the podium would be a great result. Form me this is a really significant track. This was almost the starting point of my international career in the minor Formula series and I always loved to race here. That’s why it’s a bit sad that this should be the last edition of the race, but I have to admit that I also really like Donington: I’ve won there too already. I'm confident of a good result in Silverstone this year - Ferrari have been working hard as Kimi has said, but they've got some significant updates and improvements which should give a better chance for a podium than in Turkey. I wish I was going this weekend to see Kimi one last time at the Silverstone circuit but I'll always treasure the memories from the 2007 race weekend where he beat the McLarens from 3rd place on the grid and won in great style. Keep Flying Kimi!June 14 SportBild Interview with Kimi (May 2009) This interview with Kimi was released last month from German website SportBild. It's a great one and I knew I'd have to post it here sooner or later. Many thanks go to Miezicat who translated it for us. Enjoy!From SportBild | Translation courtesy of Miezicat @ KRS Forum  Q: How much fun does a world champion have in the midfield of F1?
KR: You always have to fight more in every race when you don’t have such a strong car. And especially this year were we all are closer than before. That makes it exciting. But we all have more fun when we fight for the win. Q: Your last win is more than a year ago… KR: Of course it would be nicer if it wasn’t that long ago. But I’m sure we will win again this year. But it’s not easy to catch someone when you are behind. Q: How can you help as a driver in this situation? KR: I tell my engineers what I need. But they are still the same engineers who have built winning cars before so they know also without me. Everybody knows what he has to do. Q: No Italian chaos? KR: There is a lot of talk. The atmosphere is good. Sure, it would be better, if we win. That’s normal. But differently than some say are we working hard. And there is no conflict inside the team. Q: Also not in Barcelona, where you couldn’t get into second qualifying? KR: I thought I would come through. A silly mistake. Q: In Monaco the qualifying is very important because you can’t overtake… KR: Actually Monaco isn’t a good place to work. There isn’t much space. But the atmosphere is great for the fans. And also for us drivers it is a nice challenge to get the perfect lap. If you manage that, it’s a great feeling. Q: What is the most difficult spot? KR: The whole track is tricky. And this year we have to take care to not touch anywhere with the big front wings. Q: Do you have your yacht again in the harbour? KR: Probably not. And I have never slept on it but in the hotel. The yacht was for the guests. And it was mostly rented. Q: In Monaco there are lot of parties. Do you still like to party like in the past? KR: Yes, a lot. If I didn’t have to work I would enjoy even more. Q: Would you prefer to race in the wild 70s? KR: Definitely! (laughs) That would have been much easier! There it was more about racing. That I would have liked. Driving is the relaxing part of the race weekend for me. Q: What bothers you the most in current F1? KR: If I could only drive, nothing! That is what I love the most. I’m here to drive races. Q: For how long? Fernando Alonso should replace you 2010… KR: Yes, I now that rumour. I have a contract for next year. So I will definitely be here. What happens then, I don’t know. I have options to continue. But nobody knows what happens with F1. Q: Your buddy Sebastian Vettel is also under discussion for Ferrari. Would he suit the Scuderia? KR: He gets along with everybody. Sure he also wouldn’t have any problems at Ferrari. Q: Does he have a real chance for the championship? KR: Sure! I mean, he has a good car. And until now the Red Bull drove without double diffuser. I’m sure he will be quicker in Monaco when he has one. So Sebastian has every chance for the title. Because I think he will fight for the win in most races. Q: You beat him all the time in Badminton. Doesn’t he want to play something else? KR: (laughs) We have already some other games… Q: For example? KR: Table tennis.  Q: Does he beat you at least there?
KR: No, of course not! At least I still beat him off track this year. Q: Is it true that you move nearby him? KR: I move, but not to be close to him (grins) But now we are just 10 minutes away. Before it was 25. Now I can beat him more often in Badminton. Q: Another hobby of yours is rally… KR: In the beginning of this year I drove a rally in Finland. When you do a job for years and then can do something where you learn anything every day, is that always more interesting. Rally is totally different to F1. You can’t compare it. Q: Does it appeal you to drive with 200 through snowy forests? KR: Probably rally is more dangerous than F1. There is no safety road. But the risk is not the point why I love rally. It is simply something different than F1. Q: Is that your biggest passion now? KR: There are a lot of things I like. But that doesn’t need to know the whole world. How boring life would be if you wouldn’t have any passions? I enjoy my life in any case. |
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