“I hope [the events of the 2007 season] make him more determined; they make me more determined to beat him! Not just him, but all the drivers. At the end of the season Kimi beat me, so I'm more determined to beat him this year. I know where his strengths are from experience and from racing wheel-to-wheel with him, and with Fernando and Felipe [Massa] and all the others. Over a year you get to understand what sort of people they are, whether you're safe around them on the track or not and where you can beat them.
“I feel more determined this year – I know what I want. I knew what I wanted last year, but it was like having that desire and not knowing how to fill the shoes 100 per cent. I thoroughly enjoyed the season. It was the best year of my life, but I know it can be even better. This year I feel more confident, more at home, more relaxed and even more sure of what I want.”
As to the disappointment of Brazil, when he lost what had looked to be a sure-fire drivers' title through an over-zealous opening lap, intermittent mechanical woes and an unusual pit strategy, the Stevenage-born star was insistent it had only been a fleeting one, and that no sooner had the race finished than he had already focussed his sights on setting the record straight in 2008.
“I wouldn't say it was a blow,” he maintained, “but you wouldn't be human if you didn't feel anything. We got back [to Woking] and got the team together in the cafeteria. Ron [Dennis] stood up and said a big thank you to everyone and I did the same, and I just said ‘let's keep going and pushing forward'.
“To see the enthusiasm and the atmosphere there was even better than the previous year when they welcomed me to the team. That was a big boost of confidence, for me especially. At the end of the season I just wanted to wind down, find where I was and then build myself back up, and that's what I've done.
