After what he claims was his fourth problem-afflicted grand prix weekend out of five so far in 2008 in Turkey,
Kimi Raikkonen is looking to have a more straightforward outing in Monaco – a circuit where
Ferrari struggled this time last year.
The Finn finished third in Istanbul last weekend, having never really looked on the leading pace of team-mate
Felipe Massa throughout. That reduced his advantage in the drivers' title chase to seven points over Massa and McLaren-Mercedes'
Lewis Hamilton, who pipped him to the chequered flag in Turkey by a mere half a second.
“I like to play golf,” Raikkonen reflected, “and after the Turkish Grand Prix I had the same feeling like having a bogey. I came to Istanbul leading by nine points and now I'm seven ahead. Not much changed.
“I had a really difficult weekend. It started with a problem – when something was wrong with the gear shifting in the first session of free practice – and went on with another. Fortunately in the end I did not finish too badly.
“I wanted to fight for a win, but that's racing. Sometimes it just goes wrong from the very beginning of the weekend, so you concentrate on saving as much as you can, just like I did in Turkey. I can't be too disappointed about third spot, considering what happened at the start [when he came together with
Heikki Kovalainen in the first corner].
“Afterwards it's always easy to say what we could have done, but I never do that and this case is closed.”
Looking ahead now, the 28-year-old is evidently keen to enjoy a more competitive showing around the tortuous streets of the Principality in just over a week's time, after he crashed in qualifying last year – leaving him down in 16th on the starting grid – and could only scrape eighth place in the race, on a weekend when the scarlet machines were fairly blown into the weeds by the Silver Arrows. He is hoping for better fortunes this time around, and has already had a taste of victory champagne in the race referred to as the jewel in
Formula 1's crown when he triumphed there for
McLaren in 2005.
