Kimi Raikkonen
left Monaco in a decidedly disappointed frame of mind. "I
had great expectations for this race, my first in the
Principality in a Ferrari", stated the Finn once he had
returned home. "Everything was decided in qualifying. In the
second session, I had gone out to do a time on the super-softs
and, coming out of the Swimming Pool chicane, I touched the
barrier with the front right wheel. It was not a hard knock,
but it was enough to snap the steering arm and bend the
lower suspension. I have in the past made harder contact
with the guard rail and suffered no damage. Unfortunately,
this time there was nothing to be done, despite all the
efforts of the team. It would have been too risky to go back
out on track without being sure that everything had been put
right. It was my mistake and there's not much to say about
it. There's no point making a drama of it because these
things happen in racing and anyway, it's no use crying over
spilt milk."
After qualifying, Kimi was aware that his chances in the
race were now compromised. "I knew I would be trying to
climb up the order for the whole race as, when you start
from sixteenth, there's not much else in prospect. The only
positive moment was at the start, when I got past four cars.
Considering my fuel load, if I had done the same thing from
slightly higher up the grid, it would have been exceptional,
but unfortunately all it did was make a difficult position
slightly better. From then on I was always in traffic. There
was not one lap in which I was able to push as hard as I
wanted to and could have done, so I don't really have a
clear idea of what my race pace could have been.
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Despite the difficulties of the last two weekends,
Kimi remains optimistic for the rest of the season.
"Obviously the increased gap to the head of the
classification makes life more difficult, but this
is still the first part of the championship." |
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Kimi Raikkonen left Monaco in a decidedly
disappointed frame of mind. "I had great
expectations for this race, my first in the
Principality in a Ferrari", stated the Finn once he
had returned home. |
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"The car was fine from the start of the weekend, as it had
been at the Le Castellet test the week before. I felt that
maybe for the first time this year, I could have got the
most out of the F2007. It's annoying to be always stuck
behind a slower car and not be able to do anything to
improve the situation. At least I managed to bring home a
point, which is at least better than nothing."
Despite the difficulties of the last two weekends, Kimi
remains optimistic for the rest of the season. "Obviously
the increased gap to the head of the classification makes
life more difficult, but this is still the first part of the
championship. I will give it my all to close the gap and
will fight right to the end. There are four drivers who,
barring any unexpected surprises, have an equal chance of
winning a Grand Prix. This situation can help me close up a
bit, on the understanding that I start winning again. In
Monaco, we knew McLaren would be strong, but we also knew we
had a strong pace and it would have been nice to see that in
a straight fight. I hope everything will finally start going
my way right from the next race. I will go to Canada after
returning to Finland for a short while. In the meantime,
best of luck to my great mate Teemu Selanne, who plays for
Anaheim in the final of the Stanley Cup!"
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