Kimi Räikkönen's interview

Na semana passada eu postei algumas declarações de pilotos do WRC, sobre Kimi e sua passagem pelo rali (leiam aqui) que foi publicada em uma revista japonesa e que gentilmente Luviceman traduziu para gente. E hoje,posto a parte da entrevista de Kimi, propriamente. Meus comentários estão no final do post.

Q: You look really enjoying F1 now. 
As I said a lot of times, I really missed real racing which is man to man. You can do it in F1. I love racing and I experienced Rally and NASCAR last 2 years. And during the raced in US, I realized "ah, I would like to do this kind of races more."In Rally, you fight for the time. it is okay and fun, too. But it's not a race in the circuit with other drivers at the same time. for me, circuit racing is more natural. I have lived in such world for most of my life, and I still feel I can fight in the top level. you can do it in the best environment in F1. I am really glad to be back. 

Q: You said Lotus is more at home than other teams where you were. 
Every team has different character. Top people are completely different in Lotus. They are young and are filled with racing spirits. They are not fussy type of people. 

Q: Did staying away from F1 make any change in your life? 
While I was away from F1, I could think a lot of things. first of all, ended the contract with Ferrari in 2009 wasn't what I wanted. I had a contract until 2010, but I had to leave due to many reasons. I had strongly wanted and kept high motivation to ride Ferrari continuously like before. But Ferrari had another plan, and I could do nothing. So I moved to different category than F1, but I felt racing on the circuit is what I wanted, and that passion became more and more in this 2 years. I still love Rally, but I felt it as a real fight than hobby. If you really become top driver in Rally, you have to try hard to learn the necessary things to succeed at least 5 years. but for me, Rally was for fun. when I noticed it, I also noticed I was missing F1. 

Q: do you think your Rally experience make a good influence to F1? 
Top level of Rally and F1 are completely different. Rally is totally different world than open wheel races. Of course I didn't think I could be a top driver in 2 years. I did it because it was fun. I did it because I wanted. I think to do Rally in future, but now is F1. But because I was in WRC, I could keep my driving and physical health in certain level. It makes a good influence now. In a way, Rally is more physically tougher. you have to drive from early morning to late at night without having long rest in Rally. sometimes, you have to fix machine and put the car back from ditch with your co-driver on your way. the racing style is completely different than F1. But because of that, I have a lot of things to do. and it was fun. 

Q: Compared to the past, do you think you changed than before? 
Comparing to my debut from Sauber in 2001, I know what F1 is now. Everything was new experience at that time. I only knew I could race itself. about other things were completely unknown world. But now I just come back to F1, so it's more easy. I don't see any big change in F1. Job with a team is more or less the same, and the schedule is the same as in 2009. If there is a change, I now know you have to work hard if you succeed. When I moved to McLaren in 2002, I thought everything would go well. having a top machine and top team, I felt winning stage was set. But it was wrong. from there, how you work hard is important. now I know it. 

Q: how about your driving? 
My driving hasn't changed much. I don't even feel I was away from F1. Talking about technical thing, I don't feel F1 changed much. DRS and Pirelli tyre are new to me, and I think it will take for a while to use max of DRS, especially in qualif. In a race, you can only use it at one or two places only, so it's easier though. about KERS, I had experience to use it in 2009, so there is no problem. Pirelli and Bridgestone are completely different, but I don't see it as a problem. it took time for a while to get use to intermediate tyre in Malaysia. but in dry, there is no problem with Pirelli. you need to run enough in free practice and to know how long it can run is important. so I don't see any difference. 

Q: Are you targeting the 2nd world champ? 
For sure. I am always trying. I don't come back to F1 to just driving. I will push hard.

***

Kimi looked back Australian GP and said below "when the race restarted, the tyres weren't heat up right away, so I let Sauber passed me. If I put break with colder tyres, the tyres got flat spot. By avoiding it, I could run till the end and brought important points back." Kimi answered he thinks Lotus was top 3 team when this interview was done, which is after China (before Bahrain) , and he also said how E20 fast is mystery. Kimi said he is very happy too meet old faces in F1 who are his ex-colleagues in Sauber, McLaren and Ferrari because all welcome Kimi back and are nice to him in the paddock. 

***

Looking at the result in 2009, Kimi thought McLaren was his only choice to stay in F1. Robertson started to negotiate with McLaren after Japan GP in 2009. but at that time, McLaren already had decided to expand the contact with Button, so Kimi could not get the seat in McLaren. He had few offers from another team, but Kimi was not interested in so left F1. When he tried to find a seat in WRC, everything went well. Kimi got a seat in Citroen Jr sponsored by RB. Kimi said "It was a great program. I could ride good machine, schedules were well organized and I didn't need to pay for it. for me, it was the best environment ever. At that time, I thought it was my first step to my new big challenge for future. I believed to fight for WRC title someday if I learned top class WRC. but I tried WRC 2 years in reality, I noticed I was a bit too optimistic. to become a top driver in WRC, you have to give your all life to Rally at least 4 to 5 years. there is no way than that. but in my case, I wasn't prepared to do it. but I could learn a lot of things, and I felt I like rally although I could not nearly have good results". 

According to Kaj, Rally is one of Kimi's passion. Kimi loves Rally and the environment. Rally made Kimi to be relaxed because Rally is totally different than F1. Kimi really dislike the media while he was in F1. But coming to WRC, Kimi noticed not all the journalists will make him problems. Rally saved Kimi's soul. This is what Kaj said when the interviewer told him the media feels Kimi has changed in the interview.

Fonte: Grand Prix Special magazine - Tradução para o Inglês: Luviceman

Kimi fala nas entrelinhas. A gente consegue perceber o que ele sente pelas entrelinhas, por isto gosto de ler estas entrevistas, pois me ajudam a entender um pouco mais deste piloto, do que ele pensa e como ele percebe as coisas e as pessoas ao redor dele. Muito bacana a entrevista.

Mas a parte que me emocionou (último parágrafo) foi ver Kaj falando que no WRC Kimi aprendeu que nem todos os jornalistas são ruins e especialmente, que o rali salvou a alma de Kimi. Isto, de verdade, foi o que sempre falei aqui, desde que Räikkönen pisou no WRC. Quem acompanha este blog sabe disso. Quem leu o que eu escrevi vai lembrar das vezes que falei da minha gratidão com esta categoria que devolveu a ele a alegria de pilotar. O WRC salvou Kimi para a F1.

Beijinhos, Ludy