Thursday, 2 October 2014

Raikkonen un-phased by Alonso speculation

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(Scuderia Ferrari SpA via Twitter)

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen is confident that the Italian team will be more competitive in 2015 and 'believes 100 percent in the people at Ferrari' amid ongoing speculation regarding the future of his team mate Fernando Alonso. Raikkonen believes that the changes that are being brought in by new team boss Marco Mattiacci with his restructuring programme are beginning to show results and that by next season they will be competitive following a difficult 2014 campaign so far.

Speaking to the official Ferrari website in Japan on Thursday the Finn said:

'We have a good group of people at the factory and they have changed certain things to ensure that the mistakes which happened in the past years won’t happen anymore, I believe a hundred percent in the people at Ferrari and the fact that we can turn it around and put the team where it should be, at the front of the field. As for myself, I have a contract and therefore no worries about my future.'

Regarding the situation this season, Raikkonen commented by saying:

'I knew it would take time, we made changes at the front end and the rear end too, It has helped the ride of the car, making it more to my liking. Singapore was the best it’s been all year and I knew what to expect in every corner. There are still a lot of areas where we can improve to get things the way I want, but it’s never been a case of not knowing what to do. It’s just that it takes time to change certain things. 

I have not had to change my driving style. Changing would not make me go any faster. I can drive around some issues, but I know that is never as good as fixing the issues. I’ve been in Formula 1 quite a few years and I have never changed my driving style, nor will I, because it’s not the way to fix problems.'

The Finn heads into this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka (one of his favourite circuits) in eleventh place on 45 points equal with Sahara Force India's Sergio Perez.

© Ben Johnston 2014

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