Always trying to make things better - Raikkonen
Sunshine and warm weather was the unusual feature of the Mount Fuji circuit this afternoon, when Kimi Raikkonen faced the press for the first time on this Japanese Grand Prix weekend. Since Singapore the Ferrari team has made it clear that its target for the remaining three races is to finish first and second in all of them. Kimi was asked if a one-two was possible here.
"We have a good car and a good team and, as long as we do everything right, I don't see why this should not be possible. My personal situation is the same as before the last race and of course I would rather win races than not finish or fail to score points, but hopefully we can have a good race on Sunday. We have had some bad ones recently so it would be nice to change that. Let's see how practice goes tomorrow. In the dry last year, we were very competitive so hopefully we can get a good result. I don't feel under any pressure with the current situation. I know the team expects me to produce a good result, but then I expect that of myself anyway. It would be nice to win as I haven't had a good result in a while."
Asked about the Fuji track itself, Raikkonen admitted he did not have much of a reference point. "Like for everyone, last year was my first time here and to be honest the weather was so bad then that you could not see anything when you were following people in the rain during the race and that is something that is not very nice about this place. But hopefully, this year will be better and we can have a nice race with a bit better visibility."
Asked about his role within the team given that team-mate Felipe Massa is ahead of him in the championship, Kimi was very clear on the situation: "He will drive his race and I will drive mine," he said. "The team wants to win both championships and I know what they expect of me. Felipe needs to win the race for himself and I can probably help in some way but it is not easy to say exactly how things would work. He needs to get himself in front first. Anyway, I think our car will be competitive in all the remaining races, as long as have no issues to deal with. We are aiming to win all the races.
A driver cannot win in Formula 1 unless all elements of the package are working together and Kimi explained that he too plays a role outside the cockpit. "We are a big team and we work all together. When we have meetings, everyone can say what they think about what they feel should be done. It has always been like this and the driver has as much input as anyone else in the team. We have a very good relationship within the team and everyone works very well together and we are always trying to make things better."
