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No
break for the Scuderia Ferrari nine days after
the summer halt as after the
European Grand Prix the team
is already getting ready for the next race,
which will take place at Spa-Francorchamps:
the two F60s used last
Sunday in Valencia are on
their way to Belgium, while
some mechanics already
arrived at the track. The
main part of the team will
leave for the Ardennes
tomorrow afternoon, while
the rest of the men and
women will arrive Wednesday
morning. The cars will be
checked in the box at the
probably most fascinating
track in the world.
Therefore it will be
necessary to set up the
garage as soon as possible,
much faster than it usually
happens for transfers in
Europe.
Meanwhile
the usual meetings after the
race were held in Maranello,
where the race in Valencia
has been analysed in all its
details. Chairman
Montezemolo met Stefano
Domenicali and the
technicians with an eye to
the upcoming races, but also
talking about the
development of next year’s
single-seater.
The two
Scuderia drivers will start
into the race at Spa with a
particular spirit: at the
Belgium circuit some of the
most beautiful races have
been driven by Kimi, who won
there three times in a row,
while last year, he was
leading the race just a
couple of kilometres before
the chequered flag. Luca
will have the possibility to
demonstrate his ability on a
track he knows, after his
debut in Spain, where he
gained confidence with the
car during a race.
"I really enjoy winning,
but even a third place can give you some
good feelings," says Raikkonen. "We started into the
European GP from the sixth position on
the starting grid, we had a good start
and we managed to gain another place on
the podium: we can hardly expect more
than this. Our goal is to fight for a
position amongst the first three teams
and we’ve reached this goal. It was
definitely one of my best weekends so
far this year, together with the ones in
Monaco and Budapest, obviously from a
technical point of view.
"This year the car runs
very well on the city circuits and on
the ones with slower corners," continues
the Finn. "In
Valencia I had a very good feeling since
Friday’s first practice session, when we
drove a lot with lots of petrol on board
and we knew that if we could gain a
decent result in the qualifying and had
a good start we’d have the possibility
to fight for a place on the podium – and
that is how it went in the end. The
F60’s race set up is better than the one
for the qualifying; due to that fact we
could be faster than Kovalainen’s
McLaren during the middle stint: during
this part of the race I was constantly
informed about my own and Heikki’s lap
times, giving 110%. The car was set up
well and the speed was high enough to
overtake him during the pit stop.
"With the points we
gained, we are still ahead of McLaren in
the Constructors’ Championship. This is
our goal as a team, but it’s very
difficult to reach, considering that we
stopped developing this car,
concentrating on the one for the
upcoming season.
"In a couple of days
we’ll be on the track again for the
Belgian GP. The main goal is to hold the
standard of the last races, which means
that we have to try to get on the podium
again. I always loved racing at Spa
where I’ve won many times since I
started my career in the smaller racing
series. I really like driving here: 44
laps might be not enough! Last year
everything went up in smoke due to the
rain at the end of the race and I ran
into a wall: I set all on victory and I
didn’t have anything to lose. This year
the situation is slightly different,
also because we don’t have a car that’s
able to compete on the highest
performance level. But we’ll give it our
all - and even more - for a good result. You need a very good set
up for the car for the fast corners in
Spa. Overtaking doesn’t happen very
often this year so it’s very important
to have a good qualifying. We’ll always
have the KERS at the start," concludes
Raikkonen.
ItaliaspeedTV:
Scuderia Ferrari
Belgian Grand Prix Preview - Kimi
Raikkonen & Stefano Domenicali (English)
/ (Versione
Italiana)
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