Räikkönen: Podium will be the only place to see my hair

He’s never won in Germany, whether in the European or German Grand Prix; the latter of which has seen 
Kimi Räikkönen retire six times. After a top three placing with Lotus F1 Team last season, can this finally be
the year for Kimi at the Nürburgring?

What is it about Germany that hasn’t been kind to you in the past?
I don’t know, maybe I did something bad in a former life? I have always enjoyed driving in Germany, but the
problem is that luck has never been on my side there and something has always happened to stop me
winning. I’ve got four poles to show my speed on German soil, but six retirements at this race haven’t been
what I wanted.

Does it set you more of a challenge to have raced in Formula 1 in Germany 16 times, but never
won?
Not really. A race is just a race and you always try to do your best. Obviously in the past both circuits – the
Nürburgring and Hockenheim – have not been very kind to me, but I like them both and I have always been
very competitive; in terms of pace if not maybe results. I’ve gone very well at the Nürburgring before, just
never won. A couple of times I’ve had to stop while leading the race which always sends you home with a
bad feeling. Hopefully I can finally get everything right this time. Last year we made the top three in
Hockenheim, so let’s wait and see how it goes at the Nürburgring for the first time with this team.

Things looked so promising in Silverstone until right at the end; give us your view
It was a disappointing end to the weekend for sure. Things were going pretty well in the race, but it was a
mistake not to switch to new tyres when the safety car came out. I tried to hold on, but with tyres that were
maybe twenty laps older than the others it was impossible to keep them behind at the end. It’s a shame as
we had good pace and looked set for a pretty easy P2, but this is racing sometimes.

On the plus side you finally broke Michael Schumacher’s record for points finishes…
It makes no difference to the Championship, so I’m really not interested in that.
You had a pretty intense moment behind Jean-Eric Vergne; were you nervous at all?
It wasn’t ideal having bits of rubber thrown at your helmet for sure, but risk is all part of the game. It wasn’t
his or the tyres’ fault; if you have sharp edges on a kerb as seemed to be the case there last weekend then
these things can happen no matter what tyres you have. It didn’t change our race anyway.

It’s not been an easy run of late; does that affect your mindset?
No. It’s three races now where we haven’t had the result we maybe expect, but hopefully if we can have a
bit more luck and also get rid of some of the mistakes we’ll be able to get back to the front.

What’s the Nürburgring like to race?

It’s pretty good, but probably not as much fun as the old one. It should suit us, but the fact is you need a
really good car to be competitive there. Most of all you need good traction out of the corners and a stable
car under braking. We’re pretty reasonable in both these areas. We have had our issues with cooler
weather and unfortunately it’s not usually that warm at the Nürburgring, but we’ll just see what we get and
get on with it.

What’s the target for this weekend?
We never promise anything beforehand. A podium would be a positive result and a step in the right
direction. We missed that at Silverstone, and it would be good to get back to the top positions. The season
is still long and the leaders of the championship are ahead of us. Realistically, all I can do is to do my very
best in each race.

Will you tell us the story about your hair?
No. But if I get on the podium in Germany you will see it.Romain Grosjean: “The Nürburgring certainly keeps you busy!”

 Romain Grosjean

After a frustrating British Grand Prix, Romain Grosjean has his sights set on the Nürburgring; the scene of two podium finishes – including a win – when he last visited the track

How do you like the Nürburgring?
It’s quite a nice track with a quite a lot to it. There’s a really interesting mix of corners which means you
have plenty to think about over the course of a lap; you’re certainly kept busy! The first section relies on
mechanical grip and Turn 1 can be interesting at the start of the race if people go too deep into the corner.
It can also be a good overtaking opportunity during the race too. After that there are some higher speed
corners down to the hairpin – which is another good place you can overtake – then nice high speed stuff for
the rest of the lap. You need a well-balanced car so I think we should go pretty well.

What’s your past form at the circuit?
This will be my first time racing there in Formula 1, but I’ve raced at the track previously in F3 and the GP2
Series. Last time I raced there – 2011 in the GP2 Series – I scored a podium and a win so my most recent
memories of the circuit are certainly good.

Would you like to have raced on the old Nürburgring?
It’s quite some circuit and it must have been amazing to have raced there. I can’t imagine what it would be
like if we raced the current Formula 1 cars there. For starters can you imagine how long the set-up
meetings would be with all those corners to talk about?! The Thursday morning track walk would be pretty
epic too!

How was your British Grand Prix?
It wasn’t the best of races; quite a frustrating one in fact. We had a problem with the front wing which got
worse over the course of the race, and ultimately we lost a big part of it. There was a lot of vibration and it
became really difficult to drive, so in the end it was best to retire because of safety considerations. Before
that, things weren’t going quite to plan and we were suffering with tyre performance issues related to the
front wing. The safety cars didn’t really go our way either so it’s a race I’d rather forget.

Was it good to out-qualify Kimi for the first time this season?
Of course, you always want to be faster than your team-mate so it was good to be in front of him on the
grid. We both had different upgrade packages on our cars, so it was good to see we were able to get
similar speeds out of them. Of course, we want some more speed too, but there are still more parts to
come and we’re still learning about the latest upgrades so there’s potential yet.

What do you think can be achieved from the next few races?
We’ve got new parts on the car and we certainly have the pace for some strong results. The last few races
have been frustrating for various reasons, so if we can get a few solid weekends we should be able to get
some decent results and score good points.

What are your thoughts on the current tyre situation?
Well it looks like I could be busy at the Young Driver Test in a few weeks’ time if race drivers are allowed to
take part. Certainly, Silverstone was a very unusual situation and I know that myself and Kimi were being
asked to stay off the kerbs as it was thought that using them on certain corners wasn’t helping the situation.
No-one wants tyre failures and I know all the teams and the sport are working with Pirelli to put this right.
I’m sure there will be a satisfactory solution soon.

ends