The feeling will decide Räikkönen's F1-continuance

The feeling will decide Räikkönen's F1-continuance 

F1 | Turun Sanomat 

27.12.2012 23:40 

Kimi Räikkönen's F1-career will continue for at least one more season. His will to continue will be based upon how good it feels to drive with next season's big regulation changes. 

Räikkönen has raced with 10-cylinder engines in 2001-05 and with 8-cylinder engines in 2006-09 and in 2012. They are now changing engines into 1,6 liter V6 -turbo engines. 

Kimi shrugs his shoulders when asking for his opinion about the significance of the engine change. 

– Nobody simply can't know anything about them yet. Anybody can have the best engine or it can be that they are all equal. We can't even ever be 100 % certain about which team is the best team next season. 

– That's how it has always been in F1. This year's strong car can be bad already next year. You never get any guarantees. 

Lotus won one GP and Räikkönen was 3rd in the WDC-serie. What has the team most to catch up with when compared to the lead? 

– They never lacked anything big anywhere. I guess we were slightly behind in each area. There could probably had been more downforce in the car and of course the car could have worked better in certain temperatures, Räikkönen estimated in an interview with Turun Sanomat. 

– I guess the biggest change in the beginning of next season is that, now we know each other in the team and have all the routines during the weekend better under control. As long as we get better qualifications than last spring our chances to get better results in races grow significantly. 

DRS-limitation a sensible change 

Rules in qualification will next season change so that it's not allowed to drive the whole lap with an open DRS. They will follow the same procedure they have in the race with only one DRS-area. 

– It's a totally reasonable change. Now it was more or less so that everyone tried to use the DRS earlier and earlier in qualification. That way a big crash is bound to happen at some point. It was the drivers who wanted this to change. The risk sort of grows smaller when not trying to open the DRS too early in some places. 

– I think that the situation will also get more even when earlier some Red Bull could drive on some tracks with an open DRS all the time while other cars weren't capable of the same, Räikkönen thinks. 

James Allison got offers from bigger teams last season, but he will still continue with the Enstone crew. 

No driver can build a car 

Now they are developing the E21-car being aware of what Räikkönen and Romain want from it. However Kimi trashes the claims that experienced drivers could in some teams be actively involved in the car's development work. 

– Not one single F1-driver designs these cars. If that would be the case then we wouldn't have any engineers or designers here left. Those claims are pure bullshit. Of course we get to say our opinions as drivers and the engineers listen, but after that it's the team who will then do their best. 

– Engineers invent first and after that we try how it works, if it's good or not. It's just an urban legend that some driver would sit there designing how the car is built. 

– Of course everybody believes at this stage that their car will be good, but there are no guarantees of the competitiveness until it is put on the track. But no team says at this point that they have a totally bad car coming up, even if they would know it would happen. It goes without saying that everybody is praising their car until the end. Räikkönen assures. 

Turun Sanomat 

HEIKKI KULTA 

Fonte: Turun Sanomat / Tradução para o Inglês: Nicole

Concordo com Kimi quando ele analisa onde foi que a Lotus fico devendo em comparação aos outros times. Foi em um pouquinho de cada coisa e definitivamente em uma dificuldade nos treinos classificatórios. Se eles tivessem conseguido melhores posições, poderiam ter lutado por mais pódios e até vitórias.

Mas agora que eles já têm um melhor entendimento de tudo, em 2013 todo o grupo terá mais facilidade com isto, já que as regras não serão tão diferentes deste ano.

Sobre a influência do piloto na concepção do carro, concordo plenamente. Eles não criam nada nos carros, eles ajudam depois, dando feedback do que testaram, mas estou de lado de Kimi quando ele diz que não há um único piloto na F1 se envolve em concepção dos carros.

O trabalho do piloto começa é claro com os mesmos dando opiniões sobre o que eles gostam mais ou menos no carro, mas a influência do piloto vem depois, na pista, nos testes, nas mudanças que os engenheiros fazem a pedido dos mesmos. O resto, como diz Kimi, é lenda urbana.

Beijinhos, Ludy