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"It was a
long wait, longer than usual, as the Australian GP's
date had been moved, but now we're ready to race and I
can't wait.
"Last week everybody spoke about the classifications and
the point system with changes introduced and then
recalled. I think the best idea was the one presented by
the teams, where the GP winner would have taken a lot
more points than the second. If the FIA didn't like this
idea I think it's better to remain with last year's
system. I'd say that the rule to assign the title to the
driver who wins the most races is not correct. A driver
might win more races, but might be very inconsistent in
his performance, not gaining many points; in this case I
think he wouldn't deserve the title. In case the
difference in points for the winner and the
second-placed would be bigger, there would be a bigger
stimulus to fight for the win, but one would still have
to be consistent during the season. We've 17 races in
these Championships, this is not a 100 metres sprint at
the Olympic Games where everything happens in under 10
seconds. And I'm really not interested in the fact that
with such a system I would have won the title last year.
I'm interested in what's right for our sport.
"I'm going to Australia with great confidence and
optimism, but also with some caution: the test results
are not always repeated during the race weekends. We've
seen during the tests that there are also some other
very strong teams, especially in the last sessions the
Brawns. It seems that they've got the fastest car at the
moment and I think that their pace is real; maybe they
found something that makes the difference. We'll see in
Melbourne; but I think they've got a good car and they
did their tests with the right weight.
"There are many new elements this year we've got to work
with from a technical point of view. We've worked very
hard during the winter tests and now we can say that
their use is normal. For example the possibility to
adjust the front wing's flap via a button and the
manettino on the steering wheel: I don't know yet if it
will help to facilitate overtaking due to the lower
downforce on the front when driving in a slipstream;
during the tests we couldn't really try that out. As far
as the KERS is concerned I have to say that it's a very
important device for us and it will be also very
helpful. I'm enjoying working with all these new
solutions: they make driving much more interesting. The
most important change and also the most enjoyable one
are the slicks. When the tyres are used the car skids
much more compared to last year, but that's not a
problem, because due to the higher mechanical grip it's
easy to keep them under control. With last year's tyres,
when you had a little bit of oversteer, the car suddenly
skidded, while with the slicks it's somehow more
progressive and is easier to correct the movements.
"I'm 100% ready, perfectly in shape and I think that
this also applies to the Team. We made some mistakes
last year and we've been working hard all winter long to
improve where we weren't perfect. Everybody worked hard,
analysing the mistakes, trying to find solutions. I
think we're very well prepared and that we've done some
great work.
"My teammate is still my strongest competitor and I
think that Kimi will be very strong - as usual. My goal
is very simple: I want a season like in 2008 and to
reach that goal I have to stay concentrated and work
very hard. The first race is always a bit like a leap in
the dark, but I can't wait. As the race starts at 17:00
let's hope that it won't also end in the dark!"
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