Kimi Raikkonen
gave his clearest hint yet that the he could be squeezed out
to make room for Fernando Alonso when the Spaniard joins the
Scuderia next year saying yesterday in Spa that "whatever
happens, I am sure I can find something to do."
With Alonso
poised to switch from Renault to Ferrari for next season,
the Scuderia has to jettison either the Finn or his team
mate Felipe Massa, who is currently at home in Brazil
recovering from an accident he suffered during qualifying
for the Hungarian Grand Prix. With Raikkonen reportedly
having a firm 20 million euro contract for next year and
questions remaining over Massa's return to fitness the
decision is dragging on as the situation unfolds.
Just four
days after finishing second
in the European Grand Prix,
Raikkonen was back dealing
with the media, in the Spa-Francorchamps paddock, which
despite all the usual talk of rain, is actually bright,
sunny and warm at the moment. “It’s a nice place and a great
circuit,” was the Ferrari driver’s
view of this track where he
won three times. “I will be
aiming for a podium again,
but we won’t know until
after tomorrow’s practice,
which should give us a
clearer picture. The car has
worked well in the last two
races, as good as it can get
really, but when you
consider the last two venues
were similar to Monaco in
some ways, then that is not
so surprising.”
With the
very short uphill start
straight leading to a
hairpin bend, the Finn was
asked if the car’s KERS
would still be of benefit
here. “It has helped us at
every circuit and I am sure
that will be the case here,”
replied Kimi. “It will be
particularly useful after
the first corner and the run
up the hill and also the
exit of the last corner.”
Even the
phlegmatic Finn looked a bit
bored, when like every
Thursday at a race, some
journalist asks about his
contractual situation with
the Scuderia. This time,
Kimi decided to embellish
his usual response: “I don’t
worry about my contract.
Other people seem to worry
more than me. I have a
contract, but it’s not me
that makes the decision, so
I don’t think about it. But
whatever happens, I am sure
I can find something to do!”
When it came to the subject
of how he assesses his own
performance this season, not
counting the capability of
his car, the Ferrari man was
not afraid to admit it had
not been perfect “As a
driver, I have done my best
in every race, although for
sure there are some races
where I was not happy with
how things went, but that’s
part of Formula 1. It’s hard
to get through a year
without being disappointed
in yourself at some point,
but overall, I’m happy with
the way things have gone. Of
course, we want to win and
to do better, but
unfortunately we don’t have
the package to achieve that
right now. If we were in the
fight for the Championship
titles, then there might be
some logic in developing
this year’s car further, but
in our current situation, I
think that would be the
wrong decision, as it would
take time out of next year’s
car project. Putting a lot
of effort to try and get one
or two wins before the end
of the season is not
logical. But even so, there
are some tracks where we
still might be able to get
some good results.”
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