In sporting terms, Kimi Räikkönen (Citroën Junior Team), was quite pestered on Friday. First, on SS1, Khalid Al-Qassimi, who had started before him and been stalled in a snowbank, came back right in front of him, which slowed him down. Infuriating! But not as much as his misfortune on SS6, when was stuck in a snowbank himself. That costed him 26 minutes as he had to clear the car with a shovel himself! Nothing else for Kimi to do but to struggle as much with the press. "I got muscles!" he laughed with his engineer. To gather feedback from the crew, the journalists had to rely on his co-driver Kaj Lindström, a lot more talkative. An example? On Friday, while the WRC drivers answered questions in the media area, Kimi waited in his car, leaving only for a moment to grab his jacket in the trunk before returning to the wheel. So much for journalists.
Sordo: "He introduced me to his buddies, he's really nice"
On the other hand, the Citroën clan stands up for him. "With us, he's more comunicative. He's not really much of a talker, but he is quite open," assured his engineer Cédric Mazenq, soon joined by Citroën Junior Team manager, Benoît Nogier. "I wouldn't say he's joyful, but he's far from being as cold as his image suggests." His teammate Sébastien Ogier exchanges information with the ex-F1 star. "He talks a lot to me," said Dani Sordo (Citroën C4). "We did the Arctic Rally in Finland together and he introduced me to his buddies and invited me to his home. He's really nice." Eventually, the 'Iceman' decided to give his only interview on Friday. He was short and factual: "It's hard to compete with the guys who do this for a long time, but I'm generally satisfied. Even if there's a lot of progress to make."
Source: L'Equipe
Courtesy of Ramses1348, Boudica @PF1
Translation/adaptation from French: Fran
