Kimi Raikkonen: ‘It is very hot and humid here and we have different tyres for the first time. It will be very hard on the cars, so I have no idea what to expect.’ - AFP Photo
SEPANG: Sepang is a special place for Finn Kimi Raikkonen as this is the venue of his first Formula One win in 2003 for McLaren.
Raikkonen went on to notch a second win for Ferrari five years ago and he has now come full circle, back for the Malaysian GP with the Italian outfit again.
But in all honesty, Raikkonen, in his usual laidback style, admits he has no idea what his chances are this time.
”Obviously, every circuit is different. It is very hot and humid here and we have different tyres for the first time. It will be very hard on the cars, so I have no idea what to expect.
”Hopefully, we will have a bit of a better feeling and with the experience we gained at the first race, things should run more smoothly and we can aim for a better result,” said Raikkonen, who is known as the Flying Iceman.
Raikkonen failed to take the fight to team-mate Fernando Alonso at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne two weeks ago, qualifying in 12th place and finishing the race in seventh.
His lack of pace led to speculation that Ferrari’s brake-by-wire system was causing the Finn a few issues but he refuted this claim on Thursday.
”I don’t know where that came from, It’s not the issue. There is nothing wrong with the system.
”It is just mainly the set-up, to get the car as I like it to run, how I need to have it.
”I’m sure once we do that, it will get a bit easier, with a bit more feeling in the front end. It will take a little while,” added the 2007 world champion.
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