Kimi skips Jerez test, concerned about neck?

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen has said that the reason he has opted not to test this week at Jerez is because he wants to pay some attention to his neck.

Raikkonen went off at high-speed at Monza earlier this month during practice for the Italian Grand Prix - and while he could still race and subsequently finished third there, before then taking the win in Belgium on Sunday, the Finn has confirmed he needs to play it safe ahead of the back-to-back events in Japan and China.

Speaking ahead of next weekend's event at Fuji, the 15th round in the 2007 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, Kimi added that while there is some talk it might suit the McLarens better, he is not especially worried.

"I felt great when I came back home [from Spa]. I was really happy with my win. There won't be any tests for me this week though as I want to try to cure my neck I hurt in the accident at Monza," he confirmed.

"I didn't have any problems with it at Spa, but I better pay some attention as we have two back-to-back races ahead of us.

"I'll go to Japan early next week. I can't say many things about the track at Fuji, because I've never seen it. But there's nothing to worry about. I'll walk around the track on Thursday and on Friday I'll get to know it during the free practice

"I've heard that this track might be better for McLaren: we can't change the track, but we can work on our car. That is why the team is working at Jerez at the moment. They give 110 per cent so the car is competitive in Japan.

"Thirteen points are a lot [to Lewis Hamilton at the top of the drivers' championship], but we're catching up."

Asked about the last event in more detail, Raikkonen was clearly still on a high following his fourth victory of the year at Spa.

"We lost in Monza, but in Belgium we were able to do what we wanted to do. We even gained more points at Spa than the others," he continued.

"We expected McLaren to be quite competitive during the qualifying and Ferrari to have a better pace during the race. It all came down to the set-up: we decided to use a lower downforce, because we thought we might loose too much time in the corners in the second sector. It was really tight in the qualifying.

"I started very well in my last run and I tried to manage the first sector well enough. I didn't know the lap time I did before, so I didn't know that I was on the pole!

"I felt really well on Saturday evening. Usually we have good starts so this was not a critical point. But then you are on the grid and everything can happen!

"At the start Felipe [Massa - my team-mate] came close but I had a better line so I could stay ahead and come out of the first corner in front of him, while the McLarens were fighting against each other: afterwards I saw it on TV and I think that there wasn't anything wrong. That was just part of a hard race. It will be like that for the rest of the season.

"I really had fun in Belgium. After the start I could build up a gap between my car and Felipe before the first pit-stop. Then I just had to bring home the car to win," he summed-up.