On Thursday there was a big buzz on Trier's service area over the reply that Kimi Räikkönen gave to MTV3 telling that his F1-career might be wrapped up.Turun Sanomat had the opportunity to ask the Citroen Junior Team's driver if a decision like this has been made.
Is F1 over for you?
– I don't have a huge crave to go there. If I would have forcefully wanted to be there this year I'm sure I could have. But because I didn't have any reasonable contract I did something else.
Have you now made up your mind that F1 is history?
– Like I said, I don't have a crave for F1. It would be cool to race there but not just to drive around, Räikkönen says.
Räikkönen doesn't yet have anything contract-wise that would stop him from returning to F1. The current contract with Red Bull is only for this season. Even though Kimi would continue in rally it wouldn't necessarily be with the current team..
Is your scale turning to rally?
– We will see that later. There are a lot of things involved. There is nothing yet and it could be that nothing happens, Räikkönen says mysteriously.
Räikkönen used to say over and over again during his F1-times that he is only motivated by driving with a car that he can fight for victories and championship. Now he has a winning car in rally but he can't even think of victories.
– I have drove on track all my life. It's clear that after that I was only interested in winning. I would probably have the same attitude if I would have been in rally for 10 years.
Räikkönen has had a lifelong dream - even before he won the WDC in F1. The thought of him becoming the first racer with a championship in both F1 and rally has tingled him.
Räikkönen is now driving his 8th race. Have you got more belief in winning the rally championship someday or are you driving just because it feels so nice for you?
– I only try to do my best. I knew all along that this was difficult and it hasn't changed in any way. Sometimes when things go well I get the feeling that this could turn into something. It is difficult and it takes a long time before I get everything done properly. There has been no surprises but hopefully I develop all the time.
– I guess I would have more points if I would only want to drive for the points. There would always be an easy 8-9 position because there are so few cars. But I rather try and drive as fast as I can. When something small goes wrong you immediately lose a lot of time.
– But it doesn't bother me at all even if I wouldn't have any points. I don't see it as any merit if I have 1 or 20 points. It's all the same as long as you know yourself what you are doing, Räikkönen says.
Turun Sanomat, Trier
HEIKKI KULTA
Source: Turun Sanomat
Courtesy: Nicole
