Raikkonen: "I have a few different options"
29 October, 2009
Kimi Raikkonen will race for Ferrari one more time at this weekend’s Abu Dhabi GP. At the FIA (Thursday) press conference he fielded questions about: his feelings going into the race, the new F1 World Champion, his 2010 options and advice for Fernando Alonso. He was his usual “Iceman” self.
Q: What are your thoughts on leaving Ferrari?
Raikkonen: Well, it is not any different than a few races ago. I don’t have a contract anymore with them. It is the last race and we try to make a good result and we will see what happens in the future.
Q: Is your focus totally on Formula One or would you like to pursue your rallying career?
Raikkonen: Basically I have a few different options and we will see what is the best one overall and then make my decision.
Q: Would rallying be a consideration?
Raikkonen: It is definitely one of them, but I mean it is not just Formula One and rallying. There are other things I could do and we will see what happens.
Q: Just looking back at the second part of the season. You have only scored two points less than the person who has scored the most points. Considering that development has stopped on the car it is a pretty remarkable record, isn’t it?
Raikkonen: Yeah, I think we had a good second half. The car is definitely not the fastest but we found a pretty good way of working with the car and getting the best out of. It has been more normal to drive than for a long time before. Once you get something that you have a good feeling with, then usually you get good results. The bigger teams or the better teams who have been faster this year should have done better; better cars, better results and better points overall in the last part but they haven’t and I think we did pretty well.
Q: It seems almost unfair that the focus has been on your team-mates and how fast they have been going whereas you have been racking up points all the time.
Raikkonen: It makes no difference for me really. I don’t think they have been going very fast and they can talk to them as much as they want. We just try to score points and get good results. That has been our aim and is still our aim in the last race and hopefully we can get a bit more than McLaren.
Q: Do you think that Jenson Button is a good champion for the sport, or just that he had the best car this year?
Raikkonen: Yeah, he had the most points, also at the end of the season but whoever gets the most points deserves it, so he’s definitely the right man for that.
Q: What would like to tell Fernando as he’s joining Ferrari to replace you?
Raikkonen: I don’t think I need to tell him anything; for sure he will find out. He’s been in Formula One a long time and he’s not going to have any issues there. I think he’s probably been there before and met the people already, so there’s not much to say.
Q: You talk about your options but is wanting to do another form of motor sport as well as doing Formula One a stumbling point?
Raikkonen: It’s definitely going to be Formula One, it’s going to be in the contract that I’m allowed to do it (rallying). It’s not going to hurt you. Any kind of driving is always going to give you some experience, so I don’t see what’s the issue. It’s been working well this year, so as long as it doesn’t disturb what you’re doing in Formula One or whatever you do, I don’t see that there’s any problem.
Q: Both championships have been settled. Will this race be the last opportunity to show yourself, to potential F1 teams for next year?
Raikkonen: You always try to do your best – at least, I try and it’s the same story in the last race: we try to get back third place in the championship for the team. I think it’s a bit late if you only try to do your best in the last race to try to prove yourself to some other team, then you shouldn’t be there. It’s the same story as any race this year: we try to do the maximum.
Related posts:
- Raikkonen yet to make plans for 2010
- Raikkonen to Red Bull, Renault to oust Grosjean?
- Report: Santander to pay Raikkonen transfer
- Raikkonen wins Spa, Fisi scores big for Force India
- Raikkonen hints at Ferrari departure
