Kimi Raikkonen is entering the 2008 Monaco Grand Prix weekend determined to come away with considerably more than the single point he lucked into there last year – even if it did ultimately turn out to be, he admits, a very important point indeed.
Having crashed in qualifying, the Finn lined up a lowly 16th on the grid in 2007, and on a day when
Ferrari simply couldn't live with chief rivals McLaren-Mercedes and around a circuit where overtaking is at an absolute premium, he struggled to a distant eighth position at the chequered flag. This year, Raikkonen knows, both he and the team must do better – and, he insists, they will.
“For me every race is important for the championship,” the defending world champion stated, “but as a race there is nothing like the Monaco Grand Prix. To race in the Principality is really different from everywhere else – it is really difficult to have a perfect weekend here. When you manage it, you know the great feeling you get by winning the race here.
“It's always a great atmosphere in Monaco for the fans and the spectators who enjoy the race weekend 100 per cent. For the teams and us drivers it's not that easy. There's lots of confusion and we don't have any of our own space to calm down a bit. That makes the challenge even bigger – you have to concentrate even more on the details.
“The race in Monaco is
the race. It's a legend amongst all the races. My success here in 2005 is maybe the most memorable of all my races, so to win it again would be just as special.”
Raikkonen knows better than most on the grid just how special it is to master the sinuous Monte Carlo course and pick up the winner's trophy at the end of 78 gruelling laps around the Principality, having prevailed from pole position for
McLaren three years ago. He similarly knows how easy it is to make a mistake from his qualifying mishap on the exit of the Swimming Pool complex last year – and he reasons that the 2008 edition will provide an ever sterner challenge still.
