Kimi Singapore review – Not my year
It’s difficult to find the right words: racing at night or during the day, this is definitely not my year. I hit the wall when there were just couple of laps left. True, I wasn’t racing for the win, but for some very important points for the Team; and then it ended like at Spa, with another DNF. It seems as if the more we try to improve the situation the less we get in the end. At this point I can just hope for a weekend where everything goes in the right direction.
Once again we had the right speed at Singapore, but not when it was really necessary. The fastest race laps aren’t worth anything, if you don’t combine them with the situation when they really count.
Obviously I’m really sad about this situation. I can’t explain this dark period and there’s nothing I can do to change what happened. We have to look ahead, to the last three races.
Singapore is a wonderful place for a GP. The night race was organized very well. I was a bit surprised to hear all that chat about the time of day and the visibility: when the lights went on it was bright day at the track.
The car went really well on Friday morning, but in the afternoon we decided to change the set up and it didn’t go in the right direction.
In the third practice session we had a problem with the steering wheel and I lost a lot of precious time, because I couldn’t try the harder tyres on the fast lap; obviously this was not the perfect way to prepare myself for the qualifying. At the start of the race I couldn’t find my rhythm, because the tyre pressure was too low; I needed some laps to make them work properly. When they were alright I started to fly and I could easily catch up on Hamilton. When the safety car was deployed I understood that my chances were destroyed, because when your second at a double pit stop there’s hardly anything you can do. I managed to gain position five and then, with a faster car, I was right behind Glock. I was waiting for right moment to overtake him, but then I hit a very high kerb and the car literally off and I couldn’t keep it under control. I hit the wall and my race was over.
I’m very sorry for the Team, because they’ve done some great work to improve the F2008. It hurts loosing these points. But we know that we’ve got what it takes to fight for victory in the last three GPs.
Let’s hope that I’ll finally have a smooth weekend, from Friday to Sunday evening.
Light and shadow
Kimi Raikkonen: I was trying to attack Glock in case he might make a mistake, but I went slightly wide at the chicane, jumping over the kerb and when the car landed, I lost control and ended up in the barriers. My situation in the championship was already rather compromised, so this doesn’t really make that much difference but I am unhappy because the team has lost precious points in the Constructors’ classification. In the opening laps, the car was a bit difficult but then it improved a lot, to such an extent that I was able to close right up to Hamilton. When the Safety Car came out, I know my race was compromised given that I had to pit behind Felipe. I was able to get back up to fifth but then the incident I described earlier happened. Clearly, morale is not high today. But I am not used to giving up and will do my very best to try and help the team reach its targets.
Kimi Raikkonen: All things considered, this is a good result. Of course, you always hope to be in front of everyone but third place is not so bad. In Q1 and Q2, the car worked very well on the soft tyres but in Q3, on the harder ones, it was not so good anymore. Today, it was difficult to choose the best type of the tyre for the decisive session because the performance difference over the first lap was not so great. I probably suffered a bit because of the time lost this morning with a technical problem which ended my free practice session ahead of time. The track is very demanding with many places where you really feel the bumps and you have to maintain concentration all the time. Tomorrow I will do my best for myself and for the team.
P1 3rd 1:45.961 24 laps chassis 271
P2 7th 1:46.580 25 laps chassis 271
Kimi Raikkonen: The visibility is great and you don’t really feel you are driving at night with all the lights on the track. In general I like the track although some parts are too bumpy. The entry and exit to the pit lane are pretty difficult and we will have to be very careful. At the start of the day, we had a well balanced car and then, in the afternoon, we tried a modification to the front end that we had tried at the Mugello test last week, but it did not produce the effect we hoped for, but there was not enough time to switch back. Overall, I think we will be competitive. Overtaking? I don’t think we will see muchm as usual in fact.
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.
