“I will go into this race the same way as into the last two. My aim is to win and the rest is not up to me. I have been close to winning at Interlagos, but it has never quite paid off – I’ve finished second three times! It is a similar situation as in 2003, when I lost the title to Michael (Schumacher). Hamilton has seven points more than us, so there’s not much to calculate. We have to win and that’s that.”
Win is just what Raikkonen’s team-mate
Felipe Massa did last year, obliterating his rivals on home turf to take an inspired and hugely popular victory – then only the second of his
F1 career.
Ferrari sporting director Stefano Domenicali is unequivocal that a similar result for Raikkonen this weekend is the only option if the drivers’ crown is to go the same way as the constructors’.
“We don’t have any other choice than to be aggressive,” the Italian underlined. “We need to finish first and second. We respect the work of [McLaren] but what we are going to do is try to put pressure on them, that’s for sure.”
Honda – Jenson Button (#7), Rubens Barrichello (#8):
Following what was irrefutably its strongest race of the 2007 campaign last time out in China – courtesy of Jenson Button’s fifth place that more than doubled the Japanese squad’s points total for the year – Honda head into the season finale in high spirits, and keen to build on that success.
A generally torrid year that has yielded just six points – all courtesy of the Brit – has come alive somewhat in recent events, with Button starting inside the top six on Honda’s home turf in Japan and following that up with a second consecutive top ten grid position a week later in China, the prelude to an even better performance come the race.
