The statistics tell the opposite but Ferrari racer Kimi Raikkonen really likes racing in Germany, especially at the Nürburgring. He has secured pole position on four occasions, however he has never tasted the victory champagne on German soil.

“Maybe I just wasn’t lucky enough here and at Hockenheim. Just look at the last race for example,” he said. “I gained pole position, but right after the start there was a downpour and the race was suspended. When it started again I was in third position with a perfect strategy, but then I had to retire due to a hydraulic problem.”

Realistically this year their objective can’t be a win as the Ferrari team still have to make up ground compared to the leaders as far as performance is concerned. That’s why they continued to work very hard over the past few weeks in order to bring some new solutions to this race. Also, the track should be better for the F60’s characteristics than Silverstone, but we’ll get a clearer picture during free practice.

“To be competitive you need a car with good traction, which is very stable while braking,” Kimi explained. “It’s always difficult making predictions and promising something to the fans, but for us today a place on the podium is already a good result, considering that we’ve been there just once this year.”

There are still nine races until the end of this extremely difficult season for the Maranello based squad and their objective has to be to give it their all race after race, without thinking that the leaders are so many points ahead and Kimi fully trusts the team’s work and its capacity to close the gap to the leaders.

During this longer than usual break, Kimi went to Finland to enjoy the summer there with family and some close friends and played some tennis but he has another big event on the agenda....

“I want to thank Ferrari for giving me the possibility to participate in the 1000 Lakes Rally with the Fiat Grande Punto Abarth at the end of July. It will be my debut in a championship rally. As we don’t have any tests during the season we’ve got plenty of spare time and it’s nice to participate in a race to keep busy. I already tested over the last days, but my approach remains the same: it has nothing to do with Formula 1, it’s pure pleasure.”