29/05/2007
NEWS STORY
Kimi Raikkonen left Monaco in a decidedly disappointed frame of mind. "I had great expectations for this race, my first in the Principality in a Ferrari", admitted the Finn.
"Everything was decided in qualifying," he continued. "In the second session, I had gone out to do a time on the supersofts and, coming out of the Swimming Pool chicane, I touched the barrier with the front right wheel. It was not a hard knock, but it was enough to snap the steering arm and bend the lower suspension. I have in the past made harder contact with the guard rail and suffered no damage. Unfortunately, this time there was nothing to be done, despite all the efforts of the team. It would have been too risky to go back out on track without being sure that everything had been put right. It was my mistake and there's not much to say about it. There's no point making a drama of it because these things happen in racing and anyway, it's no use crying over spilt milk."
After qualifying, Kimi was aware that his chances in the race were serioulsy compromised. "I knew I would be trying to climb up the order for the whole race as, when you start from sixteenth, there's not much else in prospect. The only positive moment was at the start, when I got past four cars. Considering my fuel load, if I had done the same thing from slightly higher up the grid, it would have been exceptional, but unfortunately all it did was make a difficult position slightly better.
"From then on I was always in traffic. There was not one lap in which I was able to push as hard as I wanted to and could have done, so I don't really have a clear idea of what my race pace could have been. The car was fine from the start of the weekend, as it had been at the Le Castellet test the week before. I felt that maybe for the first time this year, I could have got the most out of the F2007. It's annoying to be always stuck behind a slower car and not be able to do anything to improve the situation. At least I managed to bring home a point, which is at least better than nothing."
Despite the difficulties of the last two weekends, Kimi remains optimistic for the rest of the season. "Obviously the increased gap makes life more difficult, but this is still the first part of the championship. I will give it my all to close the gap and will fight right to the end. There are four drivers who, barring any unexpected surprises, have an equal chance of winning a Grand Prix. This situation can help me close up a bit, on the understanding that I start winning again. In Monaco, we knew McLaren would be strong, but we also knew we had a strong pace and it would have been nice to see that in a straight fight. I hope everything will finally start going my way right from the next race. I will go to Canada after returning to Finland for a short while. In the meantime, best of luck to my great mate Teemu Selanne, who plays for Anaheim in the final of the Stanley Cup!"