Kimi Räikkönen – “I’m feeling pretty good for qualifying”

 Fonte:Lotus F1 Team


 Having spent the first session in the garage and the second working heavily on setup in mixed conditions, Kimi could have done with a bit more luck today at the Circuit de Monaco. The Finn however is feeling positive, and took time out to talk steering, weather and helmets…


Kimi, a difficult start to the day sitting out most of FP1; did you manage to accomplish what you needed?

It was a bit frustrating, but that’s why we have practice sessions; to make sure we solve any problems before qualifying and the race. Besides, it’s not as if we had a major issue with the car; the modified steering we brought here wasn’t how I wanted it, so we changed it to another setup and that took a while. Like I said, a bit frustrating but not a big deal.

Was the steering more to your liking when you went out for FP2?

It was fine, back to normal which is good. It’s important to get the steering right here; the track is very narrow and the corners are all pretty tight so it’s better to miss one session and make sure everything is how you want it rather than waste time with a setup which doesn’t give you what you need. We made the right decision to change it.

How did the car feel in the damp conditions?

The track was very slippery, but that’s always how it is with street circuits at the beginning of the weekend and it’s the same for everyone. The car felt ok on the intermediate tyres; it was good in a way to have some time in the wet as the weather can change quickly here with the mountains so at least we are prepared if it rains at the weekend.

The E20 looks good around here but obviously it would be better to have had more track time; what are your thoughts heading into qualifying?

We still have one more practice session and the car looks quick so I’m feeling pretty good for qualifying. Ideally we would have had more dry running but that’s how it goes. It always seems like if you miss one session then something happens in the second to make things more difficult but I’m not worried about it; we’ll see what happens on Saturday.

A lot of people have been asking about your new helmet design; can you tell us a bit more about it?

There’s no particular reason for it, I just like how racing was back in those days and it’s a nice design; there’s no more to it than that!

Kimi Brasil 2015. Tecnologia do Blogger.