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Motorsport: Formula One

Kimi Raikkonen is vowing to get his world championship dream back on track this weekend in Monte Carlo, one of his favourite venues

By Jonathan Gill

22nd May 2007

After making a flying start to his new career at Ferrari by winning on his debut in Australia, the Finn has lost ground in recent races.
 
Raikkonen’s optimism, however, could be ill-founded as British sensation Hamilton is showing no signs of slowing down
He was outgunned by the two McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in Malaysia, and since then has lost the initiative to Brazilian team-mate Felipe Massa, who won in both Bahrain and Spain.

To make matters even worse for Raikkonen, he failed to score any points in Barcelona as his Ferrari suffered a rare mechanical glitch.
However, he claimed that looking back at failure isn’t his style. “I’m not the type to go over what has happened and I’m not about to start now,” he explained. “That was part of racing and it is impossible to change what took place. Points have been lost and there is nothing to be gained in going back – we will only know the full effect of this retirement at the end of the season. Of course, I’d like to be at the top of the championship table, but there are still 13 races to go and I am only eight points behind (series leader) Hamilton.”

More worrying for Raikkonen is the fact that he is clearly strugg-
ling to match Massa in the battle for all-important internal supremacy within the Ferrari camp.

Not only is the former McLaren ace being left behind in the title race, he has also been outqualified by Massa in three of the year’s four races. And Raikkonen openly admits that he is struggling to come to terms with Maranello’s latest F2007.

Nevertheless, he is confident that the combination of chassis changes made during testing last week and the race at Monaco, a circuit he loves, will prove to be a turning point.

“As well as trying new components for future races, we have been working hard to adapt the car as much as possible to my driving style,” he confirmed. And he believes the benefits could be seen as early as this weekend. “I really like street circuits and this is one of my favourite tracks,” said Raikkonen. “I can’t wait to get back racing there, and of course I am hoping to repeat my victory of two years ago.”

Raikkonen’s optimism, however, could be ill-founded as British sensation Hamilton is showing no signs of slowing down. McLaren’s young star was the fastest at last week’s test as the F1 teams prepared for the unique challenge of Monaco on a specially created high-downforce circuit layout at Paul Ricard in southern France.

“I think we’ll be very strong in Monaco, so I’m looking forward to it,” warned Hamilton, who has already won both F3 and GP2 races in the Mediterranean resort. “It has always been a strong circuit for me and I’ll be pushing hard to get as many points as we can. But, for sure, I’m going to be aiming for a win.”

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