Question: Kimi, your fourth victory here in Spa. It has been a difficult season for the team but today you proved a point.
Kimi Raikkonen: Yes, I mean it hasn’t been an easy year for us. We were behind straight away in the first race compared to the top teams and we made a big step in Barcelona but it still has not been enough and for sure we have not brought new parts to the car for a few races as we are really putting an effort into next year. I mean getting the win now, it’s quite a long time since the last one, so it was perfect. My aim was to win at least one race and try to keep third place in the championship, so this is going to help us a lot but I needed a bit of effort today to get the win. We probably were not the fastest in the lap times but overall we were fastest and we managed to keep everybody behind, so that’s enough. It is great for the team and hopefully we can get some good results after this race. I always do well here; we will see what we can do in the last part of the season.
Question: Kimi, the key really was that pass on Giancarlo after the restart on lap five. Talk us through how you lined up Giancarlo and passed him.
Kimi Raikkonen: I knew that we needed to get past him as more or less we were on the same lap coming in and if I hadn’t done after the safety car they had too much speed to get it after that. I just made sure I was close enough after the first corner and then went behind him as close as I could through Eau Rouge. I got quite a lot of understeer and ran a bit wide on top of the hill but then once I used the KERS I was able to get next to him and just in front of him, so it was pretty easy in that way to get in front of him. I knew then as long as we don’t make silly mistakes, we should be ok for the race.
Question: Kimi, sum up this love affair you have with this magnificent Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Four times a winner here. What is it about this place and you?
Kimi Raikkonen: I don’t think there has been any special thing. Unfortunately last year we lost it in the last lap more or less. I think many drivers like it. It is a proper circuit. An old style circuit, very flowing and up and down hills, and it is good fun to drive. It is in the forest and it is just everything what you want. Usually I have always been pretty very good here since I was here the first time many, many years ago. It just seems to be good for me somehow. I don’t mind. It is a nice place to win. Also we get very good races here. It is good for spectators, for teams, for drivers. It has been a pretty good weekend. Of course yesterday we could have done better to make out life a bit easier but anyhow we managed to win which is the main thing. It is good right now and we try to keep it up for the next races.
Question: Kimi, what does this win mean to you personally after quite a difficult season?
Kimi Raikkonen: We have been trying to get it. Of course we need to be realistic as we know that our car is not as fast as the teams ahead of us in the championship, but in some places, like the last couple of circuits, it has been pretty okay. In Hungary we were closer to winning that ever before this year. Here we managed to do it. It really depends on the circuit. This is important for the team, they will enjoy it, especially after the hard time this year. But we can’t expect to win races after races, so we are going to give 100 per cent every weekend but it really depends if we get it 100 per cent right or not and if something funny happens, like here in qualifying. It gives us a much better chance but it was a good result for the team and we are very happy.
Question: How much pressure did you feel with Giancarlo right up behind you?
Kimi Raikkonen: I knew that he was faster. Probably we did a little mistake to put on the harder tyres at the first pit stop and they just did not warm up and maybe like three laps before the stop they suddenly started to work much better. I was able to push harder. I knew that if I could keep him behind at the pit stop it is pretty difficult for him to get past. They were very fast in the middle sector, coming back to the last chicane. Sometimes they got very close but I just started to use the KERS in a slightly different way to make sure he was not going to get a run on me and it was not so difficult. I mean it is hard to overtake anyhow, so it was very easy.
Question: At the first corner you were the only driver that went wide. Was that something that you had discussed with the team?
Kimi Raikkonen: No, first I tried to go the normal way but I think it was Nick or somebody who came a bit too fast inside and pushed Jarno Trulli very wide, so I had nowhere to go. I just needed to turn straight and go all the way around. It worked out but it wasn’t the plan in the first place but there was no space.
Question: What about your chances at Monza?
Kimi Raikkonen: It will be difficult. Our car is not as strong as some others over the kerbs and that is really the key to go fast there. To be able to drive the kerbs as much as you want, that is not our strongest point, so it will be difficult I think but we will see how our car will handle there and what we can do.
Question: Kimi, there are a lot of rumours about Giancarlo as your next team-mate, as you know. May I have your opinion about him?
Kimi Raikkonen: For me, it doesn’t matter who is in the second car, it’s not my decision. For sure the team will decide on whatever happens for the next race. But if I purely look at this race, they probably had a faster car than us, so it’s probably a bit of a difficult decision in that way.
Question: Kimi, it looks like you are somehow giving Ferrari a hard time, considering all the rumours about next year, because it was said that you might leave Ferrari because you’re not performing as well now. Lately, you’ve been doing pretty well. Is there something inside of you that is bringing you to this, showing that the real Räikkönen is still there?
Kimi Raikkonen: No. Nothing has changed, as I said. We found a pretty good way to work with the car. We did well in Monaco. The last race was very similar, Hungary was similar. This place is a bit different than many others. It’s purely that where the car has been strong we’ve been doing quite well every time. There’s nothing that I’ve done differently. We’ve just achieved a good result now and hopefully we can keep it up. I think there will be races where it’s not going to be easy for us but we can always try. There have been rumours almost every year since I’ve been in Formula One, so I don’t really care about them. I’m not worried about next year. I have a contract, so it’s nothing that I should be worried about. I don’t make the decisions in the end but we will see what happens. Maybe Ferrari have some other plans, but as far as I know nothing has changed.
Question: Kimi, it has been almost a year and a half since you last won, so did the champagne taste better on the podium compared to those times you were second and third, and then another question: some people have suggested that you won’t cut your hair until you have won again, so are you going to cut it now?
Kimi Raikkonen: No, it’s nothing to do with that. There’s always speculation in Formula One and b****t as we know. It doesn’t change anything. It’s the same stuff. When you’re first or second or third, it makes no difference what is in the bottle, but of course the feeling is nicer overall. It’s good for the team and good for me, so in that way it’s nice.
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