Raikkonen aiming for hat-trick

How fast things change in Formula One! That's true also for Kimi Raikkonen after his success at Silverstone, repeating his victory from 1st July at Magny-Cours. "After the two races in North America people thought we had nothing more to give. But now, after two wins they celebrate us like kings...in the end not that much has changed other then that I feel happy, obviously!" said Kimi. "It was great winning in France and it was nice to repeat that in England only eight days later."

Kimi Raikkonen, Scuderia Ferrari.

Photo by xpb.cc.

"I came close a couple of times on both of these tracks, but I could never complete the mission. Now with Ferrari, it worked out, finally. I especially enjoyed winning at Silverstone, at one of the tracks I always liked. I love this track, its challenges and its atmosphere. More important than the fact that we beat McLaren at home is that we got some points for both classifications in the last two races."

Kimi confessed that he was disappointed after the qualifying: "Yes, it really bothered me, that I was not on pole. We had an excellent strategy and the right pace, but I took the last corner too wide: you can make up some time with a line on the outside here but I exaggerated. It was my mistake and I have a hard time accepting errors like that. It was lucky that we didn't have to pay a price too high for that: it could have been easier for us, but in the end we made it."

The second pitstop was the key to success, as the Finnish driver explained: "The six laps before the second pitstop were the most important ones of the whole race. I knew that after the first series of pitstops Alonso had less fuel, so it was fundamental to stay close to him and give my best when he came to the box for his second stop. I had some traffic during these laps, but we had expected that."

"It was great to win two races in a row: the team and I needed that. The team has done fantastic preparation for these two races, but we must continue to work hard to stay ahead of our main rivals. On Sunday evening I relaxed with a friend of mine in England and came back to Zurich the next morning. On Wednesday I'll go to Spa-Francorchamps for a day of tests: we have some new components to test to improve the F2007. And then it's off to the N?rburgring: I always enjoy this track, because it has very demanding corners.

"Let's hope we can make a hat-trick: just like in Magny-Cours and in Silverstone I have never had a perfect race there with my former team. It's time to succeed. The second part of the championship has begun and you can see how the performance pendulum is easily swinging from one side to the other. Obviously I want it to stay on our side and that I continue to win: and at the end of the season we'll do the calculations."

-credit: ferrari