Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali thinks his team will change Kimi Raikkonen’s engine for the British Grand Prix following his exhaust problems in Magny-Cours.
Raikkonen suffered a broken exhaust in the French GP, which cost him victory but also led to light damage to his car and engine. [...]
They can do so without the usual 10-place grid penalty because a new ‘one free engine change’ rule that was introduced at the start of this year.
Domenicali said on Tuesday: “As far as Kimi’s engine is concerned and keeping the rules in mind, to avoid a penalty, I think that we will use a new unit to try to reduce the risk.”
The approach with Raikkonen comes after Domenicali admitted that his team have thrown away points this year through poor reliability and mistakes.
“Looking at the numbers we can be satisfied of what we have done until now, but we can’t forget that it wasn’t all that smooth,” he told Ferrari’s official website. “We left some important points down the road, because of a lack of reliability or because of mistakes on every level. Our situation in the championship could be much better.
“Even during a weekend when our performance was much better than the one of our competitors, we risked to not reach our goal by a defect or some minor detail. We were able and also lucky to bring home Kimi’s car (in France). But this alarm bell has to keep us alert.”
Ferrari are locked in a tight title battle with rivals McLaren and BMW Sauber, and Domenicali says he is unsure of how the fight will pan out over the remainder of the season. Full Story At Autosport
Per usual, Raikkonen remains calm, cool and collected about the situation – however disappointing in light of what looked like a pretty easy roll to the checker this time (as opposed to how many other times, at least lately …):
“It was disappointing in the end. We had a good car all weekend. I was on pole and leading quite easily and then I had problem with the car,” said Raikkonen.
“That happens sometimes. We were still lucky to finish the race and score eight points.
“On the last couple of laps the car almost stopped a few times. So even if it’s disappointing not to win I still took eight points… and I’m in a more confident position (in the championship). A great the result for the team, just an unlucky situation.”
The Ferrari driver said his car was just lacking power.
“We car was slow in the straight line and out of the low-speed corners so it was difficult,” he said. “But luckily we were fast enough in the beginning to go away from the others, and we had a big enough gap.
“Two more laps and we would have not finished the race. As I said it’s disappointing but still eight points is good for the championship and good for the team.”
He also claimed the late rain did not make much of a difference to him thanks to his problems.
“It was like having traction control. I didn’t have power out of corners so it didn’t really affect me at all.” [lol ... I'm sorry - but that one made me chuckle ...]
Raikkonen in now third in the championship, five points behind Massa. Full (yet different than above’s, grin) Story at Autosport
Now, Massa wouldn’t wish ill upon his teammate, I’m sure – even if he’s most likely elated to be leading the championship standings, at least in part as the result of Raikkonen’s many mechanical problems (and/or boneheaded-Hamilton moves, of course – Canadian GP, anyone?) of late. Actually, it’s nice to see him at the top … if you remember last season, several had doubts about his ability to get back up there – Ferrari or not – and I’m thrilled to see that they were wrong.
Regardless, if you’d like a great Magny-Cours race recap, jump to GPUpdate, by hitting the pic below – both pics in this post are also links to individual stories relevant to this entirrrrrre situation, of course, as are the Autosport links, which provide even more detailed info. So, even if I don’t much feel like waxing poetic myself today – I still want you to enjoy access to the scoop(s), such are they are, grin. Here’s the upshot, then, though be sure to hit all of the links here for more:
Felipe Massa took victory and the championship lead at the French Grand Prix while team mate Kimi Raikkonen nursed his damaged Ferrari home to second place. Jarno Trulli fought hard all race to take third for Toyota.
[...] [Now, don't read this part, if you're not the type who peeks at the last few pages of a thriller novel because you can't stand the suspense of the middle, grin ... just jump straight to GPUpdate for the full recap, which I know you'll enjoy (yeah, the VL pic above, or that blue link there at the bottom, lol):]
In the end both Ferrari drivers showed accomplished drives – Massa cruising home to his third victory of the year ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, nursing his broken car home to second place. The Brazilian takes the lead of the championship.
Jarno Trulli battled to a well-deserved third place on an emotional weekend for the Toyota team, fending off a final challenge from Heikki Kovalainen who salvaged fourth for McLaren. Kubica ended up fifth for BMW ahead of Mark Webber, Nelson Piquet taking his first F1 points and Alonso in eighth. Lewis Hamilton ended up tenth, behind David Coulthard. Full Recap at GPUpdate
[As a PS? After Trulli's incredibly emotional loss in Monaco? It's good times to see him on that podium ... as we will, likely, more often than we may have initially assumed. Love it when we're all wrong that way, grin ...
OR, if you're more into the dramatic vid-type experience, even of the static-pic-type with tunes, grin, you'll love this one ... truly well-done! So, many thanks, 'radzix22polska':]
Click here to view the embedded video.
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