More important things in life - Raikkonen

All sportsmen like to forget poor performances as quickly as possible, but in Formula 1, it seems the media are always there to remind you, as Kimi Raikkonen found out when the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver met the media this afternoon in a damp Hockenheim paddock.

Kimi had this to say when asked about his British GP: "Unfortunately a mistake with the tyre choice cost us badly, which was a shame as we had very good speed before that happened. We never really considered running the full wet tyres when the rain came, but we did eventually change to new intermediates, a bit late as we did not expect the rain to last as long as it did. Once we had decided to stay out, it was logical to stay out until such a time as I could take on enough fuel to get to the end of the race. Of course, the next day, it was easy to think we should have done things differently, but in the end we picked up some useful points and the result was not a disaster."

Overall however, Raikkonen is satisfied with his first half of the season: "It is not much different to last year, when I won the title by a small margin, but it was enough!" he said. "We have had some bad races, but we have still picked up a few points in them. So we could be in a much worse position than we are now." Asked about the fact that his team-mate is also having a good season, the Ferrari man did not see this as a particular issue. "You are always going to have a fight with your team-mate and towards the end of the season, we might reach a point where one driver has a clearly better chance than the other, so a decision might have to be taken to see if one driver helps the other. But there is a long way to go before then."

The key factor that spoilt the Scuderia's chances at Silverstone was the weather, so how would Raikkonen feel if similar conditions occurred this Sunday? "I don't mind if it rains here," he said. "As usual, the weather conditions are the same for everyone and if it rains, we have learned some useful lessons to deal with those conditions. We have learnt from our mistakes. We can be fast in the wet and in fact, we have everything we need to be quick in all conditions. We always try to make less mistakes when you are pushing hard. So me and the team just have to work harder to make sure we succeed. But things don't always go to plan, but I am sure we can be up there when it counts, even it will be very close between the four drivers at the top of the classification. But a year ago, at this stage, I was in a much worse position, so I am reasonably happy with the current situation in the championship."

The fight for the drivers' championship could be seen as starting here in Germany as the top four drivers are all so close, which is why Raikkonen would not commit to who is in with the best chance of taking it. "It is hard to say who will do best in the second half of the season, especially as there are some new circuits where no one knows what to expect," he explained. "But I think there will be some circuits that will suit one team more than another, so it will always be a case of trying to do everything right over the weekend from the start to the finish." The Finn did not think the fact he has already won the title last year will give him an edge this time round. "I don't think it makes any difference," he maintained. "All the drivers, including those who have never been champion have their own idea about what it takes. Some people are stronger in the head than others. I'm pretty relaxed about it. I will do my best and hopefully that will be enough. If it's not, then I can deal with that too, because there are more important things in life."