23/10/2008
NEWS STORY
"For once I came back home from a race with a positive feeling," writes Kimi Raikkonen in his latest blog for Ferrari. "The best part of the two races at China and Japan is that I was competitive in qualifying again. The car behaves the way I like it and that's why I managed to start from the front row in Fuji and in Shanghai. Finally we could pick the fruits of the team's hard work over the last months on the car: when you do the right thing you immediately see the results.
"I really like sushi and Chinese food, but more than anything else I was glad to be back on the podium. I needed a good final stage of the season. The positive end gives me the possibility of a good winter and a good starting point for the next season.
"We had the possibility to win, but our race rhythm in China was not high enough to beat our competitors. The car didn't run too badly, but it wasn't at 100% either. Hamilton was faster than us on the first laps immediately after the start and after the pit stops. We could have made up ground on the long run, but it was too late. As we had the same fuel load on board just a mistake by Hamilton could have allowed us to win.
"Last Friday, at the Chinese GP, was my 29th birthday. Every year you have your birthday, but I have to say that I really enjoyed to see and to hear so many fans remembering it, cheering for me, although this was not really my best season so far. I want to thank all of them again!
Looking ahead, he continues: "Now we're heading to Brazil, where I had the best weekend of my life last year: I'll never forget this moment. Going back will charge me even more I guess. We'll try to repeat our one-two win from last year and then we'll calculate the outcome of the standings and we'll see where we are in the two championships.
"I'll have the same approach as in the last two races. Qualifying will be fundamental and it would be nice to start from the front row once more: if this should happen, let's hope that the situation after the first corner will be different. I gained the best possible result in China, considering that we couldn't fight for the win. Once you don't fight for the title anymore for me it doesn't make a difference if I come in second or third, as long as the points for Ferrari remain the same. The team is fighting in both championships: I'd be glad if I could do something for Felipe, that he can win the title and Ferrari will be again victorious in the Constructors' championship in the last race of the season."