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Malaysia GP: Post Race press conference

NEWS STORY
23/03/2008

Kimi, that was a fantastic win and from the start it looked like a very close race between you and your team-mate Felipe Massa.
Kimi Raikkonen: Yeah, I think so. We were pretty similar speed-wise. Once he went into the pits my car got much better because when you are one or two seconds behind it is a massive difference. I was able to go much quicker on my in-lap and I could pass him. After that when you are in free air the car was handling perfectly and I was able to pull away. After a few laps I don't know what happened to him but it was a pretty easy race after that first pit stop.

You were obviously outqualified by him by a small margin. In retrospect did that reflect the fuel load or was the car a lot better on race day than it had been on Saturday?
KR: I think sometimes that we still have some difficulties to get the qualifying right. It was good in Q2 but then in qualifying two we could not find the grip with the tyres. But we knew we were running one lap longer, so I was not really panicking. The car usually has been much stronger in the race for us than in the qualifying, so as long as we kept close I thought we would have a good chance to pass him and it worked out in the first pit stop already. The car was very good all weekend but sometimes with new tyres it is difficult to get the best out of it. The team did a great job this weekend.

You seemed to make a pretty good start. Talk us through the first corner as it was pretty close there and for a moment it looked as if perhaps you might have a go.
KR: Yeah, I got alongside Felipe. I got a bit better start but in the situation I knew that we would run one lap longer, so we didn't want to risk it between the team-mates in the first corner. Maybe if I had pushed harder I could have made it past, but I decided to stay behind and try my move at the pit stop. I think that was better for everybody and it worked out perfectly.

The Malaysian Grand Prix, traditionally, is a very tough race particularly in terms of the heat. But you jumped out of the car and looked pretty fresh when you got out.
KR: It wasn't too bad really. Of course it is hotter than any other race. Australia was hot but in here it is so humid but for me it was okay. There was a small issue on the podium.

There was champagne under the eye-lid there.
KR: Yeah, we should put it in the mouth not in the eye. Things go wrong sometimes. Anyway it has been a perfect weekend.

Robert, congratulations to you. Your team-mate Nick Heidfeld finished sixth and set fastest race lap. A great day for the BMW Sauber team.
Robert Kubica: I think it is a fantastic result for the team – second time we have second place in a grand prix in a row. After an unlucky Australian Grand Prix finally a podium after Monza 2006, so I am very happy for myself and for the team.

Simple words, but of course a very tough race and you did drive beautifully. Talk us through the race in terms of your tyre choice and perhaps the effect of the heat and strategy and what it was like in the closing stages?
RK: I didn't have a good start. There was some wheel-spin at the start which compromised my acceleration, so it was quite close with (Jarno) Trulli and Nick. I nearly lost the car on the braking into the first corner as I was inside on the dirty side but I think they touched, so I managed to overtake them. I was trying to keep a consistent pace. We know we cannot keep behind Ferrari but I was trying to make up time as I thought McLaren would be a bit stronger. I saw after the second pit stop that Heikki was around 17 seconds behind me and didn't close the gap. We did the last pit stop and then just pulled down the revs to keep the engine a bit fresh for the next grand prix which is very important. For the heat it was a tough race and I didn't feel well all weekend. I was a bit sick and especially our new car is very hot inside. The last 10 laps were pretty tough to keep concentration as 20 seconds in front was Kimi and 20 seconds behind was Heikki, so I was just cruising to the end.

The drink in the car. How was that towards the end of the ace?
RK: Our drink is already hot at the beginning of the race – extremely hot as in the cockpit we have massive temperatures, so I didn't drink a lot as the drink was too hot. Next time I try to use hot tea inside the bottle.

You were behind the Ferraris early on. Where were they quicker and where are you going to be working on improving the car in the upcoming weeks?
RK: First of all I think we have to be happy with our pace already now because at the start of the season it did not look so well. It is very difficult to say where they are quicker. For sure on the top speed we are lacking a bit and it makes for tough racing because you have to push really hard in the corners knowing that in the straight you will be losing a bit of a gap. Especially on the long distance race it is not easy with tyre degradation and with the new tarmac and the new asphalt here in Sepang we were lacking traction compared to last year, so we will have to work on this.

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