Q:
Kimi, a good points' scoring day for you. Tell us about that first corner incident with
Heikki Kovalainen which resulted in a puncture for your compatriot.
Kimi Raikkonen:
I didn't have a very good start. I got to the side of him on the braking. Then I got a little bit squeezed on the inside and I tried to slow down and get behind him, but he just turned in a little bit. The unfortunate thing for both of us is that I broke the front wing and he had a puncture. It didn't help for either of us. We chose to use the front wing for the whole race because it takes too long to change it and it wasn't too bad. The weekend was a little bit difficult but at least we got some good points and we need to get a better weekend at the next race.
Q:
What was the handling like with the broken front wing as you did set the fastest race lap?
KR:
It wasn't too bad, but it never helps as the end of the wing was damaged. It is difficult to say how much better or different it would have been with the proper wing but for sure it doesn't help you.
Q:
Part of that was starting on the slow, the dirty side of the grid, which was the result of a relatively poor qualifying for you. Can you talk us through your problems up to qualifying?
KR:
It wasn't the best qualifying for me, but it has been my weakest points. We had a bit more fuel than the others which is one reason but also the lap wasn't as good as I wanted. But anyhow I think it all started on Friday when we had a problem. But like I said we had a difficult weekend but I am still happy being in third place and we didn't lose too many points. It is early season and we still have good points, so we will see what we can do in the next few races. The next two races last year were very difficult for us so we need to see how strong we can be and hopefully we can challenge for wins and go from there.
Q:
Felipe, the Monte Carlo Grand Prix – the marquee race for
Formula One – looks very good for Scuderia
Ferrari Marlboro.
FM:
Yeah, for sure last year was okay. I finished third in Monte Carlo but
McLaren were very strong there. We have been working a lot – even from last year – on the set-up for Monte Carlo for this year, so hopefully we will have a good car and a good chance to win there as well. Having a good weekend would be definitely a good result, even being on the podium as you always want to score as many points as possible. We know Monte Carlo is a track which can be very tricky especially without traction control. But I am looking forward to being very strong there as well.
Press conference:
Q:
Felipe, three time winner here, fantastic. Your feelings about this circuit?
FM:
It is just great. It is just fantastic to drive here. As I said yesterday it gives you a lot of pleasure as a driver to drive here. It gives you so many different corners and also having a great car like I had today it is definitely fantastic to fight for the victory and win. It was a very difficult race. We saw that Lewis was pushing very hard. In a way fortunately he had three stops, but it was difficult to hold him on the track as he was very quick. At that moment knowing he was on three stops it was maybe not so good to fight and risk the care knowing that it was pretty possible to get in front again which is what I did. It is just great to come back here at a track where I won for the first time. That is always special. To win for the third time in a row is difficult to explain my feelings.
