KIMI AND THE RED BULL RALLY OF TURKEY – PREVIEW
初めて何かを学ぶ時 -例えばワールドラリーみたいなものでも、事実とフィクションを区別することが重要だ。たとえば、七面鳥(turkeys)はトルコ(Turkey)原産じゃないことと同じ(彼らは北アメリカ原産だ)。だけど、アメリカに移民した最初のヨーロッパ人達は七面鳥を”guineafowl”(アフリカ原産)の一種だと間違えて、当時、大部分はトルコを経由してヨーロッパに輸入された。それで名前が定着したが、興味深いことに、トルコのレストランメニューで、七面鳥はほとんど見つからない。それが、世界中の七面鳥にとって、イスタンブールがクリスマスブレイクのための人気のある目的地になっている理由だろう。
クリスマスはあと8ヶ月後のことであるが、キミ・ライコネン -今年F1からWRCにレッドブルとスイッチした – は、前回のヨルダンラリーで、彼の初めてのWRCポイントである4ポイントをプレゼントされた。現在彼は、今年全く新しいルートで行われるラリートルコのためにイスタンブールへ向かっている。
彼の短いラリーキャリアの中で初めて、キミはわずかながらハンディのない状況、他のドライバー達もトルコの新しいステージを見たことがない状況でスタートする。異なるのは、キミにとってC4WRCとの、3回目のグラベルラリーであるということだけだ。しかし幸運にも、アイスマンは挑戦を恐れたことはない。
The only positive thing from the Singapore weekend was that we both finished the race without any reliability problems. As far as the performance was concerned we were a bit in trouble as of the start of the weekend. As I’ve said many times before it’s impossible to predict anything before the start of the race weekend. We already understood on Friday in Singapor that it would be tough for us.
The car was very nervous and we didn’t have any grip at all.
In the end the situation gets more and more difficult. We stopped the car’s development quite some time ago, while there are other teams, who, for one reason or the other, improve their cars. Considering that the last two races were held on special circuits it was predictable that on a track with such a high downforce like the one in Singapore the improvements the others brought had a bigger impact. After the qualifying we knew that also the smallest goal, reaching the points, was something hard to achieve. We went for the hard compound for the first two thirds of the race, but the car didn’t have any grip. The situation was slightly better with the soft compound, but then it was too late and I don’t think that we could have gained more than one point.
Now we’re going back to Suzuka, where I drove a Ferrari for the first time. In Fuji I went onto the podium twice, but this one here is a different track: it’s very fast and demanding. I had one of my nicest wins there in 2005: I started from the back and took over the lead in the end. It’s a very demanding track for us drivers. The realistic goal is to reach a place in the points. We’ll give our best, but it will be difficult; as difficult as to defend our third position in the Constructors’ standings with McLaren catching up.
These are very intense weeks: after the two consecutive races in Valencia and Spa now there is Monza on the calendar, this year’s last race in Europe. In Belgium we won and we want to go on like this in the last races, trying to stay on the podium. It’s one of the most important GPs of the year, because we race in front of our fans and it would be great to give them satisfaction. The success at Spa was very important for the team: I could see the guys in front of the podium and understood how much this victory meant for them, especially in such a difficult season. It was great for me to listen to the Finnish and the Italian national anthems after such a long time. And it would be excellent to repeat it until the end of the season. Racing in Monza in front of our fans with all the Prancing Horse flags in the wind is a fantastic feeling. I’ve never won a race in Italy, but I always liked racing at Monza. For me there’s no extra pressure, but I know how much the team wants to have a great race here.
The track is the fastest of the season and the KERS should help us just like in Spa. You need to use the kerbs well and this wasn’t the strong point of our cars over the last years. We’ll see what will happen as of Friday. We didn’t do the usual test on the track so it’s difficult to say because the cars haven’t used this aerodynamic set up so far. I’ll have a new teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella. I always got along very well with him. He’s one of the most expert drivers and we will give our best to help Ferrari keep the third place in the Constructors’ Championship. The performance levels changed from one race to the next this year. There are team like us who stopped developing the car and others making pressure, because there are still several goals to reach. Looking back I’m happy because I’m the driver who gained the most points over the last races (25): who would have said that after such a start of the season?
It will be a difficult weekend, but I can promise the fans that we will give our best as usual.
Finally we are getting back to the track! This year the summer break was longer than usual and I had the possibility to recharge my batteries for the last part of the season. The first week of the break I dedicated to the Finland Rally, which was an experience I really enjoyed a lot, despite the outcome. It was really fun driving at the max in the Rally in my home country, seeing so many Ferrari fans there. Then I spent some time with my family and my best friends, doing some sport to keep me fit.
I will have a new teammate at Valencia. Instead of Felipe – and I want to wish him all the best for a speedy recovery again – there will be Luca Badoer. He has been the official Scuderia test driver for many years, and I’m glad that he finally got the chance to race a Ferrari. I really wish him good luck and I am sure that we’ll work well together.
We got a good result in Hungary, which allowed us to climb back on the third place in the Constructors’ Championship. This is the Team’s realistic goal for the final part of the season. For myself I hope to win at least one race, after a third place in Monaco and a second at Budapest. In Hungary we seemed to be back to the duels we saw over the last two years, Ferrari vs. McLaren, but I don’t think that this will be the case at the European GP.
We are racing on a city circuit at Valencia, but with very different characteristics compared to the others and compared to Budapest, which is the fastest of them. This year we did quite well on tracks like this, just look at Melbourne – where I could have finished on the podium – Monaco and Budapest. Last year I did not end the race at Valencia caused by an engine failure. So this year I want to return and maybe even gain a place on the podium. This is our realistic goal, although we know that it will be difficult.
The qualifying will be fundamental: it will be important to start from one of the front rows, maybe even from the clean side of the track. It is really a disadvantage when you have to start from the dirty side of the grid on this track, because it has never used during the rest of the year. It will also be important to have constant performance throughout the race: it’s easy to loose time with little mishaps. I am expecting extremely high temperatures and humidity, which will make it all even more difficult for us during the weekend.
It’s a bit more than a year ago that I won my last Formula One race. At Barcelona in 2008 I had my best weekend with Ferrari: pole position, victory and fastest race lap. Since then I came very close several times – I’m thinking of Magny-Cours, Montreal and Spa – but for one reason or the other I could never make it. Having said that, a driver never looses the lust for winning and I want to have that feeling again as soon as possible. After four races outside Europe it’s always very nice to come back to the Old World. Furthermore I really like the Circuit de Catalunya a lot, also because I could win here already twice in my career.
I really liked hearing from the Team that the new aerodynamic package’s first signs are positive. It will be really interesting taking the car out during Friday’s free practice sessions. We drove on this track back in March this year, but it’s always really difficult to understand from the tests, who’s really strong in the field. Furthermore many cars have changed quite a lot since then. With the new aerodynamic package we’ll have more downforce compared to the first four races, but also almost all of the others will show up with some updates. We’ll see who has done better work.
Aerodynamic efficiency is crucial at the Circuit de Catalunya for a good lap time. It’s a very demanding track from a technical point of view and you need a good car to be competitive. A good qualifying will be important to avoid getting stuck in the field with all the risks coming with a situation like this at the start; we paid our price for that at Bahrain. Overtaking is never easy at Barcelona, but now we’ll see if the KERS can help to make it easier. On such a track it might make the difference, especially at the start.
Until now we gained only three points. The sixth place at Bahrain was a decent result, but now we have to reach much higher. I spent some days at home in Switzerland. I trained and followed the ice hockey world championships, which are held in Switzerland this year. Obviously I’m shouting for Finland. Monday night we played very well and we won against Canada: this match showed that you should never give up and fight right until the end. This is what we’ll do at Ferrari. This week I am in London for the opening of the new Ferrari Store on Regent Street. On Thursday I’ll fly to Spain. It will be a very interesting weekend.
Kimi Raikkonen: Let’s say that I’m not too thrilled about the sixth place, but considering the circumstances I’m glad I gained these three points, the first of this season for me and for the Team. It wasn’t a start to the season as we had expected, but that’s how it went. Three points are not much, considering that the Championship’s leader won the race, but it’s still better than nothing. Finally bringing home both cars, we’ve made a small step forward. Now we’re ready to make the most important thing, hoping that it will enable us to fight for the top positions. The race at Sakhir was the hottest of the season. It was really hard work, but I didn’t have any problems: I really liked it, because that means that the hard preparations during the winter bears fruit.
The F60 did fine in Bahrain, although we lacked some speed. The set up was good, especially with the softer tyres. The trend seems to be confirmed that our cars run better with higher temperatures. A fifth place might have been possible, but we lost some precious seconds due to the small problem during the pit stop, otherwise I would have rejoined in front of Rubens, although then it would have been difficult keeping him under control. I fought with Glock’s Toyota, although I had the harder compound, but my car was faster on the straight; that was enough to keep him behind me.
I’ve been asked how many points we’ve thrown away in the first races. It’s difficult to reply, but most of all I don’t want to continue talking about the mistakes and the problems we’ve had. As usual we have to look ahead: the past is the past and we can’t change it. The most important thing is now that there is an important development of the car coming up. The Team works an awful lot to improve the performance for the next race at Barcelona, although we know that the others are doing the same. Let’s hope that we can make a bigger step forward than the other teams. If we manage to gain at least three tenths of a second, then we’ll be able to fight for more than just a sixth place.
Before we start thinking again about the Championship, we’ve got to see what we can do at Barcelona. It’s obvious that the situation is difficult, especially because there is a driver who won three out of four races. Obviously I won’t surrender, but we’ve got to get back on the podium as soon as possible and make the car faster so we’re able to fight for the win as of mid-season. These days I’m following one of my preferred sports: ice hockey. The world championships are held in Switzerland and Finland is playing at an ice rink close to my house. I hope my team will continue to win, as last night against Denmark, the first match I’ve watched. I’ll try to go to the stadium as often as possible: I know several players and I’m really enjoying watching them playing live.
The Chinese GP is held earlier this year than it was its tradition and was moved from autumn to spring. The season doesn’t change a lot in what I’m aiming for: gaining points and maybe even winning. In the past this race has always been good to me. I won here in 2007 and I often gained a place on the podium. Obviously I hope to repeat that.
I know that things are slightly more difficult this year. We started on the wrong foot, although honestly, we deserved at least some points for what we’ve seen in terms of performance. It’s useless, as I always say, to cry over spilled milk. We have to look ahead and we have to try to improve. The season is still very long, although the Court of Appeal’s verdict will have an important impact. We’ve got to develop the car even more, now that we can’t test on the track. We have to make up and we’ve got some aerodynamic improvements already here at Shanghai. But we also know that the others will do the same.
We’ll see how the situation will be on Friday, but I hope that we’ll be a bit closer to the front-runners. After Malaysia I went back home to Switzerland. During Easter I went to Finland, where I spent some time with my family and friends. It was really nice to go ice skating, just doing something different for once. I’ll arrive in China Thursday. The goal is the usual one, being ahead of everybody else, or at least on the podium. The rest doesn’t count for much.
“When it rains here, it tends to fall very hard, raining like crazy for about half an hour, then it stops and the track dries very quickly, so let’s wait and see what happens this weekend, It can be tricky, especially for qualifying.”
“Malaysia is a different challenge so anything could happen, but I would keep in mind that, without my mistake in Melbourne, we could have had a good result, rather than miss out on points. That was only the first race and there are still lots of races to go. It’s too early to say on Thursday, so let’s wait at least until after Friday practice, to get a clearer picture.
“We use KERS all the time, in testing over the winter and all through the first race and we plan to use it all season long. We use it in whatever way we think is best and I would say we do so mainly to get a good lap time, but of course it can also be used to attack or to defend. I am not sure if KERS will be more of an advantage here than in Australia. I think this track could suit us better and I hope we will find that we have more speed here and will be able to challenge and be front runners this weekend. This track has many unique characteristics, even if compared to Melbourne it what we consider a “normal” circuit, but the heat, humidity and chance of rain means that anything can happen here. But usually, this circuit produces a different order among the teams to the one in Albert Park, which always produces strange results.”
“Again it is a late race and although it should be okay in terms of visibility, there is usually a bigger chance of rain later in the day, just at the time we should be racing,”
“As for the tyres, we have different tyres here, including a Hard compound which we have never used before, so we will have to see how that works out. The Hards seem to work quite well, but it takes time to get them working properly, but the softer one, once it goes off, that’s it and you cannot make it work properly again. But we don’t really know what to expect here.”
It was the first time in many years we were left without a single point in the first race. So, obviously, yes – it was not a good start to the season. By far. It’s frustrating, but there is nothing we can do to change it anymore. We just keep pushing hard and try to improve next time.
It was only one race and things can turn around very quickly. Also last year Melbourne was not that good place for us and then one week later I won in Malaysia. Again things can turn around very quickly. The weekend overall was a very disapointing experience. We did not score any points and we did not have the quickest car on the circuit. There is a lot of work to be done, but I have a great team behind me to change things quickly.
It was one of the toughest weekends I have ever had in F1. We lost some valuable time in practise and it was a painful setback. Every lap counts, especially now when testing is so limited. It’s always hard to say how much we lost, but for sure it did not help. Probably the best thing for us was that the KERS system worked well at the start, but I did not get a clear path to take full advantage of making up positons. It was not enough go gain places, but the feeling to use KERS is great. Our speed was not as competitive as we expected beforehand. I was not so surprised to see the Brawn GP at the front. We already saw in testing that they have been very quick. Now there are new favourites at the top. Obviously it’s going to be very tight and very challenging fight for the championship and that’s very good for the sports.
Before going to the season I said, that we need to see how things are after the first two races. Malaysia is more of a normal circuit to judge how competitive we are. I think the championship is wide open. This was only the first race of the season and whilst it would have been nice to start the season well, there are many races remaining. It’s too early to start making predictions. The picture will become clearer only after the first 4 or 5 races.
Now we go to Malaysia, which has always been good place for me. It’s a proper circuit compared to Melbourne. Due to the cars being so different this year, it’s very hard to know just where we are compared to our competitors. I just love to race at Sepang. It’s a very challenging place, the weather is hot like in a Finnish Sauna and it really demands a lot to get good weekend there. We have a lot of work to be done after Melbourne, but we will do our very best to win the race again.
I enjoyed this winter break more than usual. I spent most of the time with my family and friends in Switzerland and Finland, but I mainly trained very hard and in a different way to be ready for a very demanding season. Amongst other things I’ve taken part in two rallies in Finland with Fiat’s Grande Punto S200: I really had a lot of fun, but it also was a good training for the upcoming races. And now it’s time to get serious.
It’s difficult making predictions, considering the many rule changes this year. Ferrari was very competitive during the tests; but we’ll do the F60’s countercheck at Melbourne, when we’ll all meet in the race with the same fuel at the same time. Only then we’ll see how strong we are and maybe we’ve got to wait for a couple of races to have a clearer situation. Albert Park is a very particular circuit, just like the city itself is very special: maybe we’ve got to wait until Malaysia to see which teams will be ahead.
As usual I can’t wait to start a new season. Putting on the helmet and racing is something worth living for. The number of tests has been limited, but I had fun anyway to work on a completely new car. It seems that a really long time has passed since the last race in Brazil, also considering all the changes of the car: it will be really interesting to see how its development will evolve. When things go well you’re having more fun, but we still haven’t raced this year, so it’s really a bit too early to say anything. We hope that everything will be the way we expect it to be. There’s a lot less of aerodynamic downforce than last year, so we’ll be slower in the fast corners, but the car will have much more grip in the slow ones, due to the slicks. Therefore the lap times haven’t changed a lot. I can confirm that I like the F60 more than last year’s car. It’s much more fun to drive and it reminds me more of the cars I was used to some year ago. The KERS is something very interesting and easy to use: I hope that it will make overtaking easier. From the first test the whole Team was positively surprised by how well the KERS works. Everybody is expecting more overtaking now, but I think it’s still a bit too early to say what will happen and if the lower downforce will help when you’re in a slipstream. It’s always a good thing for a driver and a team to have a good start into the season, especially when we remember how the last two seasons ended as far as the Drivers’ Championship is concerned: I won with one point in 2007 and my teammate was one point short in 2008. That means that every point counts. Two years ago I won in Australia, while we had several problems last year. Our goal is to immediately gain some good points.
We’re ahead of the season’s last race and the last possibility to taste the pleasure of racing for a while. This is what a driver loves most: putting on the helmet and fighting for the win. I want to fight for victory in Brazil and celebrate a good result with the Team: this would give me a good feeling for the winter and the upcoming season. There are not so many positive things for me I achieved over the last season. We have to analyze every single detail of what happened and try to learn from our mistakes to improve everything for next year.
But now we have to give it all at the last race of the 2008 season.
I’m happy to be in Brazil again. Interlagos is a track where there are often really exciting races. We drive anti-clockwise here, which is very demanding. But more than anything else this place reminds me of something very special. Last year I won the race and the title, something really extraordinary. The Ferrari very often went very well on this track and I hope that it will be the same this year. We’re fighting for both titles, just like in 2007. We’ll try a one-two win again. Winning the Constructors’ Championship is very important for every team and even more so for Ferrari. I’m glad that I can help the Team to reach its goals.
After the Chinese GP I relaxed a bit. I went to Switzerland to meet my friend Anton Alen, Markku’s son, who was driving a rally there. It was great seeing him in action. I didn’t have to do anything in particular to charge my batteries for Brazil: that comes naturally. I had some pretty good result in this race, but last year’s victory was the icing on the cake. We have to wait for Friday’s practice sessions to see what our chances might be this year. It will be very hard with McLaren in the qualifying. Over the last two races I had a much better feeling with the car in Q3, when I had a bigger fuel load. It’s important to believe in the car and the possibility to attack, this is what makes the difference. I hope that we can find the right set up, after we’ve been very close for a couple of times. At the beginning of the year things went very well, but then we lost track and we couldn’t get back. It was a very long year and I can’t wait to have a break.
There will be several new rules for the next season and we will have to work a lot during the winter. But before I go on holiday it will be great to get back to Mugello for a second time for the Ferrari World Finals. This is a very special event for the all Ferraristi. It would be even better if on 9th November we had a World Championship title with us to celebrate. I couldn’t win the Drivers’ title this year, but I assure you that I’ll try again next year.
シーズン最後のレースと、しばらく間が空く前の、レーシングのプレッシャーを味わう最後の機会を前にしている。ヘルメットをかぶって勝利のために戦うことは、ドライバーが一番愛しているものなんだ。ブラジルで勝利を目指して戦い、いい結果をチームとともに祝いたいと思っているよ。それは冬(のテストシーズン)や、次のシーズンに向けて僕にいい感触をもたらしてくれるだろう。去年僕が成し遂げたようなポジティヴなことは(今年は)そんなに多くない。起こったことの全ての詳細を分析して、全てを改善するために、僕達の犯したミスから学ばなければならない。でも今は2008年シーズン最後のレースに全てを注ぐべきだね。またブラジルに戻ってこられて嬉しいよ。インテルラゴスはとてもエキサイティングなレースがしばしばあるトラックだ。反時計周りに周回するし、要求されるものがとても多い。
でも、他のどこよりもここが、僕に特別な気持ちを思い起こさせる。
去年僕はレースに勝ち、本当に驚くべきだけど、タイトルを獲得した。フェラーリはこのトラックでかなりいい結果を残しているから、今年も同じであることを願うよ。2007年のように、僕達は2つのタイトルを懸けて戦っている。1-2フィニッシュに再びトライするんだ。コンストラクターズタイトルを獲ることはどのチームにとっても非常に重要だけど、フェラーリにとってはさらにそうだ。(ふたつの)ゴールに向けてチームを助けることができて嬉しく思っている。
中国GPの後、僕は少し休みをとったよ。スイスに行って友達のアントン・アレンに会ってきた。マルク(※マルク・アレン：フィンランド人元WRCドライバー、ランチア)の息子のね。彼はラリーのレース(※Rallye International du Valais Switzerland 23- 25 Oct)があったから。レース中の彼に会うのはとても素晴らしかったよ。
ブラジルに向けて僕自身のバッテリーを充電するために、特別なことは何もする必要がなかった。自然と高まってくるものだからね。僕はブラジルGPでは何度かいい結果を出しているし、去年の優勝ときたら、ケーキの上のアイシングみたいだった!(=うれしいおまけ、の意)今年のチャンスについて見極めるのは、金曜日のセッションまで待たないとならない。マクラーレンと予選で戦うのはとても大変だろう。中国と日本では、より多い燃料搭載量でもQ3でいい感触がクルマにあった。クルマと、アタックできる可能性を信じることはとても重要なんだ。これが大きな違いを生む。正しいセットアップが見つけられるように願うよ。シーズンの始めには物事がうまくいっていたのに、トラックを見失い、戻ってくることはできなかった。とても長いシーズンだった。休みに入るのが待ちきれないよ。
来年は新しいレギュレーションがいくつかあるから、僕達は冬の間にハードに働かなくてはならないだろう。でも休みに入る前に、僕にとっては2回目のFerrari World Finalsのためにムジェロに戻るのは素晴らしいよ。これは全てのフェラリスタにとってのスペシャルイベントだしね。11月9日に、ワールドチャンピオンシップのタイトルをお祝い出来たら更にいいだろうね。今年はドライバータイトルを獲れなかったけど、来年またトライすることをみんなに約束するよ。
キミたんの中の人、最近かわいいな!
nice to haveとthe icing on the cakeの違いがちょっとよくわからんちん。
The most important thing is to win again. The situation in the Championship is what it is and it doesn’t depend anymore only on my results, but of my competitors’ results. In theory it’s not over yet, but I don’t have it under control anymore. Lase year, in the second part of the season, we had a great set up for the car and I was able to win many races. It was much more difficult this year. Especially as far as the tyre temperature is concerned. When the temperature is right, the car is very competitive. We’ll give it our best at Singapore, so that we can fight for the win, which still remains the main objective. We have to give it all in these four races and then we’ll see what’s going to happen. I’ve said it many times: victory is the only objective, the essence of motor racing. I’m not just here for driving, but I want to win.
Monza was a bad weekend for me, but afterwards we had a good test session at Mugello. The car had a very good set up in the last two races on the dry track and we’ve tested some new solutions, which will improve the performance. Last week I spent a day with the simulator at the CRF (Fiat Research Centre) at Turin, where I god an idea of the track, where we’re going to race at the weekend.
I arrived at Singapore today, after one day at Abu Dhabi, where I took part in some promotional event with our partners Mubadala and Etihad Airways. I can’t wait to get back on the track, because I love new challenges: since we’ve known the Championship’s race calendar, I’ve been waiting for 28th September. Of course when I think of the results I had this year on street circuits, I shouldn’t be too optimistic, but I still like to race on this kind of track: it’s pure emotion, when you find the right set up for the single-seater and race between the walls. I don’t think that it will be a big problem that we race at night. They’ve done it already with motorbikes and it was a great experience. I’m someone who likes to sleep late. My body will adapt prefectly fine to this unusual time of day.
In the end it’s not important when the race starts. When you put on your helmet and go out to the starting grid, you’ve such a high adrenaline level, that you forget everything else and you just think about giving it everything for the whole race.
They say that it rains every evening at Singapore. This shouldn’t worry us too much, because everybody will race under the same condition. I think that we’ll have the possibility to win in the four outstanding races and I will give it my all to make it and to help the Team to reach it goals.
