How fast things
change in Formula One! That's true also for Kimi Raikkonen
after his success at Silverstone, repeating his victory from
1st July at Magny-Cours. "After the two races in North
America people thought we had nothing more to give. But now,
after two wins they celebrate us like kings...in the end not
that much has changed other then that I feel happy,
obviously!" said Kimi. "It was great winning in France and
it was nice to repeat that in England only eight days later.
I came close a couple of times on both of these tracks, but
I could never complete the mission. Now with Ferrari, it
worked out, finally. I especially enjoyed winning at
Silverstone, at one of the tracks I always liked. I love
this track, its challenges and its atmosphere. More
important than the fact that we beat McLaren at home is that
we got some points for both classifications in the last two
races."
Kimi confessed that he was disappointed after the
qualifying: "Yes, it really bothered me, that I was not on
pole. We had an excellent strategy and the right pace, but I
took the last corner too wide: you can make up some time
with a line on the outside here but I exaggerated. It was my
mistake and I have a hard time accepting errors like that.
It was lucky that we didn't have to pay a price too high for
that: it could have been easier for us, but in the end we
made it."
The second pitstop was the key to success, as the Finnish
driver explained: "The six laps before the second pitstop
were the most important ones of the whole race.
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"I especially enjoyed winning at Silverstone
(above), at one of the tracks I always liked," said
Raikkonen. "I love this track, its challenges and
its atmosphere." |
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How fast things change in Formula One! That's true
also for Kimi Raikkonen after his success at
Silverstone (above), repeating his victory from 1st
July at Magny-Cours. |
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"I knew that after the first series of pitstops Alonso had
less fuel, so it was fundamental to stay close to him and
give my best when he came to the box for his second stop. I
had some traffic during these laps, but we had expected
that. It was great to win two races in a row: the team and I
needed that. The team has done fantastic preparation for
these two races, but we must continue to work hard to stay
ahead of our main rivals. On Sunday evening I relaxed with a
friend of mine in England and came back to Zurich the next
morning.
"On Wednesday (today) I'll go to Spa-Francorchamps for a day
of tests: we have some new components to test to improve the
F2007. And then it's off to the Nürburgring: I always enjoy
this track, because it has very demanding corners. Let's
hope we can make a hat-trick: just like in Magny-Cours and
in Silverstone I have never had a perfect race there with my
former team. It's time to succeed. The second part of the
championship has begun and you can see how the performance
pendulum is easily swinging from one side to the other.
Obviously I want it to stay on our side and that I continue
to win: and at the end of the season we'll do the
calculations."
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