In an interview with the media this afternoon, Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen says he is finally feeling comfortable in Ferrari’s 2014 challenger even if it has taken him quite a while.
Raikkonen has played second fiddle to team-mate Fernando Alonso most of the 2014 season as he has struggled to come to grips with the F14T, especially in qualifying.
However, he looked a lot more comfortable during qualifying in Singapore and looked set to be in with a shout of starting on the first two rows of the grid, but a software problem hampered his run in Q3 and he started P7.
In his interview with the media this afternoon, Raikkonen stated the following about his performance in Singapore:-
‘In Singapore, we finally had the speed to put together a quick single flying lap in qualifying, as the car behaved the way I’d been hoping for. It was just a shame we could not maximise the performance of the car because of a minor issue before the last flying lap (in Q3). It meant we could not do much in the race, as I was stuck in traffic and couldn’t exploit my pace.
‘But for me, the positive thing that weekend was I finally had a good feeling from the car, something I had been waiting for a long time this year.’
From what Raikkonen has stated in his interview today, it is clear that he is feeling more comfortable with the car and is able to extract the pace and performance he needs from it. Even though it was a shame that Raikkonen suffered a minor problem in Q3 in Singapore after showing real promise, the fact that Raikkonen was able to drive the car is the most important thing and he will try to built on this weekend.
Ferrari and the rest of the Formula 1 pack will be in Suzuka this weekend for the Japanese Grand Prix and Raikkonen has a lot of fond memories of the track having won there in 2005 with McLaren. Further on in his interview today, Raikkonen spoke about his past successes at the Suzuka track:-
‘It’s a high power circuit, but also technically very challenging, so we are looking forward to see how our car goes there compared to the front running teams.
‘I like Suzuka a lot. It’s an old-school type of racing circuit, the sort that always gives me the best feeling. I’d have to say my favourite is Spa-Francorchamps, but Suzuka comes very near in my ranking. Apart from my first ever time in Japan and Suzuka, when I was driving for Sauber and had to retire after crashing with Alesi, I have finished every single race in Japan and I have got some really good results, as well. Winning the 2005 race was one of my best ever drives.’
As Raikkonen says himself, he loves the challenge of the circuit and loves coming back to the Suzuka circuit. And many fans would agree with Raikkonen’s love of Spa and Suzuka. Even though his track record at Suzuka is good after his debut year in 2001, it is clear that his victory in 2005 is a personal highlight and a highlight of many fans and pundits too in the manner that Raikkonen drove and claiming the victory from Giancarlo Fisichella on the final lap of the race.
Overall, it would seem that Raikkonen loves the Suzuka circuit a lot and its characteristics will challenge him and also the F14 T this weekend and will have to see if he is able to achieve a good result from the weekend which is much needed for Ferrari considering the fact they are fighting for third place in the Constructors with the Williams team.
But can Raikkonen show once again this year that Suzuka is a track that not only he does love, that challenges him and the car to the limit, but will also reward him a great result to add to his career racing at the circuit in Japan? We shall have to see what the race on Sunday will bring him.
