Yes! " title="ha" /> This is the translation (if its true):
Reporter: "You were by the racetrack there yesterday, so how did the F1 cars look like when they drive on the track?" Justus: "Well, just boring!" Reporter: "BORING?" Justus: "One ain't able to listen that noise in any way."
ZitatNatalie Pinkham also shared a recent experience filming a feature with Kimi Raikkonen. “I think Martin is right. Like we have done a three-minute thing with Kimi that we will show in Malaysia, but that required 45 hours in Moscow.”
Pinkham gave a little teaser in to the feature saying “Put it this way, if you haven’t heard Kimi laugh before you will by the time you watch this, the best I have ever seen Kimi.”
Zitat ’I was sick, I don’t have to prove it to anyone’ The Racing Nerd March 11, 2013 No Comments
Translated by Nicole
Räikkönen told Sportbladet about the hangover-rumours, the car that hassled during pre-season and about his plans of a WDC-title.
BARCELONA. Everybody is talking about one man. About how he has been sick and how his car has technical problems. The man himself doesn’t give a damn about it.
Kimi Räikkönen doesn’t like to talk. He lets his driving do the talking.
The F1-cars are being loaded, tires are rolling, the team packs up their things and their offices are torn down. It’s the usual chaos because the tests in Barcelona ended less than an hour ago.
Outside Lotus-team’s premises two small boys sit on the stairs eating muffins. They wear brand new Lotus-caps and they are waiting for their uncle. He has had a stomache and missed one testing day, the second day his car had hassle. That’s why he delays in the garage. Wearing a thick hat and sunglasses with mirrors he lingers outside and answers briefly to questions from the nosy TV-team, but when he takes three more steps he leaves the chaos and it’s like time just stops. In that specific bubble near the Lotus-motorhome.
”Hasn’t been perfect”
The stress outside continues, but Kimi Räikkönen takes off his sunglasses, gives both his nephews a high five and exchanges a few words with them before he goes to his next meeting. The cool facade melts for one small moment until the F1-driver steps back in his role as ”The Iceman”.
The man Sportbladet now meets is controlled and hunting for his second WDC.
Nothing seems to waver his intentions.
– The test wasn’t perfect but that’s something we can’t influence on. At least we got a few laps, let’s see what happens in Australia he says and points out that he is not scared although his gearbox was changed twice during pre-season.
Problems last year
– The problems we have had took many hours to solve, but it has been pretty cold here and we think that it’s not going to happen again when it’s warmer. I can’t guarantee anything, but last year we also had some problems during pre-season and still our car was reliable during the racing season..
Does it disturb you that you had technical problems during three of your four testing days in Barcelona and that you had a stomache during the fourth day?
– It disturbs me that I was sick but it doesn’t matter in Australia. I was sick and missed one day in the car, but the next day I was back in the car. One always wants to test more, but it’s better to test and hit problems than face them during the season, because then everything goes into a hassle during the first races. I hope that we fixed our weaknesses.
Denies hangover-rumours
They whispered in the press room that you didn’t have any food poisoning, that you had instead been out partying and had a hangover. Does it bother you when they talk like that?
– Reporters always talk too much and sometimes they also write about something they are gossiping about. I was sick, I don’t have to prove it to anyone. That day was nothing good for me but the next day I sat in the car without any problems.
Kimi’s performance last year suprised many – but not himself.
– It was a good car so I delivered good results. I’m not surprised over my way of driving, I know exactly what I can do with a good car. It was cool to stand on the podum and it was cool to win again. We are going to fight for the same thing this year also.
– The car has improved one step when compared to E20 which was also very good. At the same time we don’t know how good our opponents are so we have to wait and see what happens in Melbourne. The team works well and we did many things better than we did last year. Hopefully we can do it even better this year. I dig the guys in the team, we already know each other. They let me do my thing and they work hard so that we can have the best car on the field.
Last year you weren’t satisfied with your qualifications, have you now solved the problem?
– We have improved the car even though it never was bad. The qualifications in F1 are immensly even and I always want to take the pole, but it’s enormously difficult. One can always improve and so far it feels like this year’s car is even better during one single lap, but we don’t know until we had the first qualification, he says and continues:
– It feels like the E21 has a better balance and that it’s better in the most areas when compared to last year’s car. It’s more stable in high speed and the grip is better when when it’s not moving as fast. It also seems to be better when the track is wet. We want improvements and we excpect to have them also. There aren’t any bigger changes in regulations this year and it means that everybody should be better. We hope to have made a bigger leap forward than our opponents.
New situation
What expectations do you have from Lotus?
– I hope that it goes well but it’s a new situation again. Last year I had no idea what to expect, this year I feel just about as uncertain. I will do everything in my power to succeed, he says.
– I hope and believe that we can fight for the world championship.
After that he puts his hat on and disappears inside the part of the office that hasn’t yet been torn down. He has talked enough and we understand exactly what he means.
He walks away – with his focus on the WDC 2013.
Räikkönen about…
…himself as a driver: – I sit in the car and drive it. In other words I must drive quite well.
…his contract that ends after the season: – Let’s start this season before we talk about 2013.
…car’s development: – We need more speed in the car than we had last year. If we have it when the season starts then it gives us a better start which is important when thinking about the outcome of the season.
…that he is probably the most popular driver in Sweden: – So I’m popular because nobody else is more popular than me? Nah, I think that the guys just like my driving style.
Our Iceman is back in the driving seat and gives us his thoughts on how testing went for him, and how even the perfect amount of laps is never quite enough…
Albert Park is upon us and testing didn’t quite go to plan for you; how are you feeling at the start of the 2013 Formula 1 season? We had some problems in testing but we still completed quite a few laps. Of course, you always want more laps, but it is what it is. We’re all going racing and then we’ll really see where we’re at. I’m not really concerned about reliability or anything like that as it was the same problem which caused us the biggest problems in testing and we’re on top of that now. You can never be 100% certain of course, but if you look at last season we had problems before the start of the year then we were pretty good when we got to the races. Of course we hope that we can perform better than last year, but let’s see how it goes.
Do you feel better placed to fight for the championship than last year? Hopefully, but it’s so difficult to say from testing. Twenty kilos of fuel can make a big difference to lap time and we don’t know how much fuel people were carrying in Spain. Let’s see what happens in Melbourne. Hopefully we can be fast in the first races and have a good start to the year.
You’ve said the E21 is a nice step forward from the its predecessor; is that across the board and in every area, or is there more you want from a racing car? I think you always want more, but this car is a pretty good starting point and we’ll see; hopefully we’re fast enough. I don’t think there’s any area where it feels worse than last year’s car; so far everything is better. We had good speed last year, but not enough to win the championship. That means we need more speed this year. If we can get just a little more from the car and keep our consistency, with some better results at the beginning of the year, then we should have a much better chance.
It’s your second year with Lotus F1 Team; does that continuity help you and your feeling with the team and does it mean you are working well together? It helps for sure, but if it’s going to make a difference, well I don’t know. The fact that we know each other already will be better – you know each other and what the other driver likes from their car and so on – but if this actually helps to bring better results to the team I don’t really know.
What would you like to achieve in Albert Park? I’d like to start the season strongly and hopefully run the first races better than we did last year. We don’t know exactly what to expect so we’ll try to do the best we can; we should have a reasonable start to the season.
You’ve had some good races in Australia; is it good to be starting the year there? Australia is a nice place even though it’s a long way from Europe. The circuit itself is not the most difficult on the calendar. It was good to score a point on my first time at Albert Park, and the podiums and race win in 2007 obviously made me happy. The circuit hasn’t changed at all so I’m confident I know which way it goes…
Do you think Albert Park could suit the E21? It’s always difficult to say for the first race of the year. It’s not a full time race track so the weekend starts pretty slippery. The weather can be a bit of a surprise sometimes and we’ll also learn how we compare to the other teams. You need a car with good traction and the E21 feels better in this area than the E20 which wasn’t a bad car itself. Strong turn-in and stable bra
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Sat Mar 09, 2013 12:14 pm
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