The last duel - Raikkonen
The Scuderia Ferrari heads to Brazil this weekend for the final Grand Prix of the season. The team is still fighting for both championship titles. Unlike last season, it's Felipe Massa who still has hopes for the Drivers' crown while Kimi Raikkonen will do everything he can to help the team achieve its goals.
Kimi Raikkonen: "We're ahead of the season's last race and the last possibility to taste the pleasure of racing for a while. This is what a driver loves most: putting on the helmet and fighting for the win. I want to fight for victory in Brazil and celebrate a good result with the Team: this would give me a good feeling for the winter and the upcoming season. There are not so many positive things for me I achieved over the last season. We have to analyze every single detail of what happened and try to learn from our mistakes to improve everything for next year. But now we have to give it all at the last race of the 2008 season.
"I'm happy to be in Brazil again. Interlagos is a track where there are often really exciting races. We drive anti-clockwise here, which is very demanding. But more than anything else this place reminds me of something very special. Last year I won the race and the title, something really extraordinary. The Ferrari very often went very well on this track and I hope that it will be the same this year. We're fighting for both titles, just like in 2007. We'll try a one-two win again. Winning the Constructors' Championship is very important for every team and even more so for Ferrari. I'm glad that I can help the Team to reach its goals.
"After the Chinese GP I relaxed a bit. I went to Switzerland to meet my friend Anton Alen, Markku's son, who was driving a rally there. It was great seeing him in action. I didn't have to do anything in particular to charge my batteries for Brazil: that comes naturally. I had some pretty good results in this race, but last year's victory was the icing on the cake. We have to wait for Friday's practice sessions to see what our chances might be this year. It will be very hard with McLaren in the qualifying. Over the last two races I had a much better feeling with the car in Q3, when I had a bigger fuel load. It's important to believe in the car and the possibility to attack, this is what makes the difference. I hope that we can find the right set up, after we've been very close for a couple of times. At the beginning of the year things went very well, but then we lost track and we couldn't get back. It was a very long year and I can't wait to have a break.
"There will be several new rules for the next season and we will have to work a lot during the winter. But before I go on holiday it will be great to get back to Mugello for a second time for the Ferrari World Finals. This is a very special event for all the Ferraristi. It would be even better if on 9th November we had a World Championship title with us to celebrate. I couldn't win the Drivers' title this year, but I assure you that I'll try again next year."
