Raikkonen: “more effort into next year’s car”
Nurburgring, 9th July – While Kimi Raikkonen looked relaxed and refreshed after the longer than usual break since the last race, the questions he faced this afternoon from the media seemed to be the same as always! Asked if a podium might be a possibility at this circuit, whose characteristics might suit the F60 better than those at the last two races, Kimi was cautious. “We will try our best,” began the Finn. “Certainly, a win would be a very difficult target under normal circumstances, in fact so would a podium. However, it is hard to predict, as apart from the two teams who seem to be regularly at the top, the order behind them seems to change a lot. We will get a better idea once practice starts tomorrow. We have some new parts again for the car, which will hopefully help us a little bit. In general, for the second half of the season, I hope we can bring some major step forward on the car at some point and get closer to the front of the field. I don’t think we are so far off the podium, even if the Red Bull was in a different league to the others in the last few races and they look very difficult to catch. At some point we will need to make the decision to put more effort into next year’s car.”
Raikkonen has always been the type to concentrate on his on-track activities and rather than everything that surrounds the sport, which was obvious when he was asked to comment on the current political arguments in the sport. “I don’t follow the politics much. It is pointless to read all the stories as the situation seems to change every day. I prefer to wait until it is all sorted out and hopefully it will be soon.”
It seems that every race weekend, Raikkonen faces the same question about his future with Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and his future in Formula 1 and it’s clear the Finn is bored with it. “You ask the same question, so I will give you the same answer – I have a contract with the team,” he said. “Maybe you can ask them if there are any changes planned!” Some of these rumours stem from the fact the Finn has indulged his countrymen’s passion for rallying and is due to compete in Finland’s international rally next month. “I did already two rallies during the winter and doing the Finnish Rally is no different. It is no more dangerous than Formula 1, so I see no reason why I shouldn’t do it. It is good fun and the team is allowing me to do it. It will be nice to do as it is in my home country and everyone says it is a good rally. I am not sure what to expect, but like the other rallies I have done, I expect it will be good fun, even if I don’t have much experience driving on gravel. At least the speeds are slower than in F1, so you have a bit more time to react. Just because I am doing this rally, it doesn’t mean I don’t want to continue in F1 next year. I would have done some rallies a long time ago but I could not. It’s just because Ferrari is kind enough to let me do the rallies that I am doing them now.”

過去2つのサーキットよりはF60にマッチしているこのサーキットでポディウムの可能性はあるかどうか訊かれて、キミは用心深く答えた。
「僕達はベストを尽くす。確かに優勝はいつもよりとても困難な目標だし、ポディウムも同じだ。だけど、常にトップを走っている2つのチームから離れている今、予測することは難しい。彼らの後ろのオーダーはかなり変化するからね。明日プラクティスが始まれば、いいアイディアが得られるだろう。またいくつか新しいパーツを持ち込んでいるから、うまくいけば少しは助けになると思う。シーズンの後半になって、ポイントを獲得し、フロントに近付けるようにいくらかクルマを前進できたならいいね。僕達がそれほどポディウムから遠いとは思わない。ここ何レースかで、レッドブルがキャッチするのは難しそうなほど抜け出していたとしてもね。僕達は来年のクルマにより注力すべきか決定する必要があるだろう。」
「僕は政治的なことには興味がない。状況は毎日変わっているようで、全てのストーリーを追うのは無意味だ。全て整理されるまで待ちたいし、うまくいけばすぐにされるだろう。」
「同じ質問をされるから、同じ答えを返すよ—僕はチームと契約がある。何か変更が予定されているかどうかはチームに聞けばいい」
「僕は冬の間に2つのラリーをした。フィンランドラリーに参加するのもそれと同じだよ。F1より危険ということでもないから、してはいけない理由が分からない。すごく楽しみだし、チームは僕のラリーを許可してくれた。自分の母国でラリーに参加できるのはとても嬉しいよ。いいラリーだと言われているしね。何を期待するべきかについてはよく分からないけど、グラベルでの経験が十分になくても、僕が出場した他のラリーと同じように楽しめればいいと思っている。少なくともスピードはF1より遅いから、反応する時間が少し余計にある。僕がこのラリーに出るからといって、来年F1を続けたくないということではないよ。以前(マクラーレン時代)も僕はラリーをやりたかったけど、できなかったんだ。フェラーリは親切で、僕のラリー出場を許可してくれたから、僕はいま取り組んでいるんだ」

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