23/07/2012
NEWS STORY
After inheriting the final podium position in the German Grand Prix, Kimi heads to his 'home' event in Hungary hopeful of another strong result and perhaps some celebrating with his fellow Finns.
You're up to fourth in the Driver's Championship with only a small gap to the drivers directly in front; where can you go from here?
Kimi Raikkonen: If you had told me in January that we would be fourth halfway through the season, I think I would have been pretty pleased. It's not a bad place to be, but I think we have a car good enough to have scored more points. I want to win and the whole team is pushing hard to make it happen, so let's see what we can do in the second half of the season…
How are you feeling heading to Hungary?
KR: It is always nice to go to Hungary. The circuit is not the most difficult of them all, but it is still quite challenging. It is also the last race before the summer break and it's a great city to end the first half of the season. It's always nice to have a summer vacation and recharge the batteries for the last - and most important - part of the season.
How do you rate your past performances at the Hungaroring?
KR: I have won once in Hungary and finished second three times. It is very hot and very demanding race. It's only when you win that you don't suffer at the Hungaroring. I hope I don't suffer this time.
Are you happy to receive a podium placing for your performance in Germany?
KR: It's nice to get the points for third position, but obviously we would rather score it on the track. Having said that I think we did the best we could at Hockenheim from the position we started. Maybe if we had found a bit more pace in the wet of qualifying we could have started higher, avoided the traffic and pushed the leaders, but it is what it is. For sure we were hoping for a bit better, but the car worked well all through the race and we still brought home some good points for the team so there are some positives to bring to Budapest.
How do you assess the team's potential heading to this event?
KR: The team has been working hard in developing our car and we are confident we should be competitive in Hungary. Usually we have a hot weekend at the Hungaroring, and that's what we have been looking forward to during the whole summer. It's never nice to go to media after a race without a win. I love to win, not to explain why we were not able to win. Hopefully we can get the result we are looking for.
What are the particular challenges of the circuit?
KR: It's such a slow and twisty track that you there are two things most of all which are really important for fast lap times; these are good turn in and good traction. If you have those, you have a competitive car there.
The circuit's tight and twisty: how important is qualifying?
KR: This is one of those circuits where it's very difficult to overtake. Obviously, you need to get to the front in qualifying and you also ideally want to avoid the dirty side of the track on the grid. We haven't been the best in qualifying so far, but we have been good in the race in hot conditions and able to make different strategies work. It won't be the end of the world if we don't qualify at the front, but it won't make things easy for us either. Let's see what happens.
The Hungarian Grand Prix is also sometimes known as the Grand Prix of Finland because so many of your countrymen attend. What does this mean for you?
KR: It is always nice to see the blue and white flags waving. It's the closest we Finnish drivers get to a home race and a lot of Finns turn up every year. Hopefully I will be able to celebrate with a win for them.
Hungary was the location for Romain Grosjean's first pole position in the GP2 Series, so after a weekend in Hockenheim he'd really rather forget, our flying Frenchman is hoping for better things in Budapest.
What's the key to a good result this weekend in Hungary?
Romain Grosjean: It's a familiar story; we need to achieve a good qualifying performance. We have a few updates coming which is good news and I'm sure we are going to be better than we were last time out. In terms of conditions, it should be hot and hopefully sunny which will suit our car better than the cold we've seen recently, and certainly better than in the cold and wet! The Hungaroring is a circuit that I quite like and one where I have had good experiences in the past. Hopefully my past history at the track will help me to have a proper race weekend. Having all sessions in the dry, so we can work properly from beginning to end, will also be very helpful!
What went wrong for you in Hockenheim?
RG: It was a difficult weekend, especially in qualifying and in the race. We weren't able to get any pace in qualifying and we're still trying to understand why that was. My car was very difficult to drive when it was wet, and it was always raining hardest when I wanted to set a fast qualifying lap. On top of that I had a five place penalty on the grid due to my gearbox change. Then in the race, the first lap was a bit of a mess and I got hit by another car. Maybe it was bad luck, but either way I know I need to improve my first laps. I am working on that as it is a bit of a shame when you have a good car, but your race is effectively over after a couple of minutes. In Germany my front wing needed replacing and the punctured tyre damaged the floor. It was then very difficult to finish the race let alone to keep up any sort of good pace. There are races where nothing goes right and it was one of those. Let's hope the luck will turn around and everything will be much better in Budapest.
Had you driven a race lap with a punctured tyre before?
RG: No. That was the first time, so I can add that to my experience. It's difficult to know how fast you can go and you can't see how much damage is being done to the bodywork. It's not a nice experience. It's far better with a car that is healthy!
You still had to push on in case there were any opportunities for points - it must have been quite character building?
RG: It was very difficult. The car was not handling well, but this is normal with the damage we had. I hope I don't have that situation again. The car was unbalanced, unpredictable and inefficient. Everything you don't want from a car!
How is your past experience at the Hungaroring?
RG: I scored my first GP2 Series pole position there in 2008. Last year I won and finished third, which was a pretty good weekend. I'm heading to Hungary with a positive attitude.
How does it feel to have completed half of the season?
RG: It's not been easy so far. We've had some very good results and some very bad races. The last race was maybe one of the worst - so let's work, analyse and try to understand so I don't make mistakes any more. Stay out of trouble and qualify better, this is the key. And from that we can go forwards.
What do you have planned for the August break after the Hungarian Grand Prix?
RG: I'm going to have my honeymoon so it's going to be a good month for me. Hopefully I can head off on holiday with the very nice present of a podium finish in the Hungarian Grand Prix.