Singapore should suit us better; I’ve unfinished business there..: Kimi

After a second consecutive race with no points to show for his efforts, Kimi Raikkonen wants to make amends in Singapore.

Despite a storming drive through the Monza field – Kimi Räikkönen heads to Singapore pumped and ready for the challenge ahead:

Excerpts from an interview:

 It’s now been announced where you will drive next year; how does that affect the rest of your
season?

Hopefully it means I won’t be asked so much where I’m driving next year, but maybe it means more 
questions. For my racing this season it doesn’t make any difference. I’ll keep pushing at every race to get
the best result I can.

Are you looking forward to the Singapore Grand Prix?
I really like going to Singapore. It’s a great place to be, I love the local food, and I don’t mind the unusual
times we run in the car as it means I don’t have to get up so early. I have some unfinished business after
my three Grands Prix there so far, as I enjoy the circuit but have not yet had a podium. That doesn’t mean
I’m not quick there as I’ve been told I still hold the lap record from 2008. I crashed while fighting for fifth
place that year, finished down in tenth in 2009, and took sixth last season, so I want more this time.

What difference does it make racing at night?
In the first years of the race being held I was a little bit surprised by how people were talking so much about
the different timing. Obviously when they switched on the lights it was exactly the same as racing in the day
time. I think everybody in Formula 1 enjoys the night race. It’s worked out really well as Singapore is a
buzzing city and lots of people turn up. Apart from one or two dark spots in the run-off areas the circuit is
very well lit, so there is not a big difference to racing in the day.

Regardless of being at night, it’s a street race; what effect does this have?
Monaco was not that good for us but there is no reason why Singapore should be difficult. Like at every
street circuit it’s very difficult to pass other cars there, so starting the race as high as possible on the grid is
very an important factor in getting a good result on Sunday.

How do you think the circuit will suit the E21?
Everybody will bring updates to this race so we’ll have to see what difference that makes. It’s a case of
trying to get the maximum from our package and working on achieving the best balance. If we get
everything right we should do okay.

Any worries about the weather?
We saw rain last year in Singapore and it’s no secret that our car sometimes struggles in wet conditions.
It’s something we’ll deal with if it happens, and as always the weather is the same for everyone.

Is it good to be back to a higher downforce layout?
After these two weekends with zero points it’s nice to get back to a circuit we expect to be more suited to
our car. We seem to go better at high downforce circuits that’s for sure. The car actually worked
surprisingly well at Monza during the race so it was a shame we lost so much time at the start. After getting
the new nose, our race pace was not too bad.

What’s your target in Singapore?
Obviously, the podium is a target again. We’ve had two races without scoring any points so we need to
score as many as we can in the remaining races this season.

How are you feeling about your Championship charge?
You don’t win Championships by not scoring points. We’ve had two races where we haven’t scored which
is not ideal. We’re here to race and score as many points as we can. Of course, that’s what everyone is
trying to do so we just have to keep pushing and hope that we have some pretty good races for the rest of
the year, then we’ll see where we end up in the standings.

ends