‘Indian GP track looks interesting’ Kimi Raikkonen, who’s in 3rd position in drivers’ c’ship, tells he’s looking forward to his first visit to India

‘Indian GP track looks interesting’

Kimi Raikkonen, who’s in 3rd position in drivers’ c’ship, tells he’s looking forward to his first visit to India

You have garnered points in all but one race. Did you expect Lotus to put up such an impressive show? The team has done well in the past; they’ve won championships, so I wasn’t only looking at last year’s results when I joined them. There are a lot of good people at Enstone and they do a good job.   You won the 2007 Formula One world championship on the final race day. Do you get a feeling this season will be as close? For sure! That was a close year and this year is close too. We won’t know how close it will be until we get to Brazil. You have had five podium finishes so far this season. How hungry are you for that spot atop the podium? Podiums are good, especially the top step. If I can win the championship without winning a race, I will be happy. If I win a race I’ll be happy. I’ll be even happier if I achieve both. You came back to Formula One after a two-year break and you are now third in the drivers’ championship. Did you expect this? If the car was good, I was confident I would be able to fight for podiums. If you fight for podiums, you can fight for the championship. What prompted you to come back to F1? I was missing the fun of racing wheel to wheel. My target was to enjoy my comeback and give my best performance. How much did the sport change during your two-year hiatus. What do you think of the new points scoring system? There are some people in different shirts, but you get this every year when you don’t leave anyway. The points system is the same for everyone so it doesn’t matter to me. This will be your first India Grand Prix! What are your expectations? I am looking forward to racing there and the track looks interesting. I’ve always liked to visit new countries and India is an exciting place. As far as the performance goes, we won’t know how well the car will perform until we get there. Asia is hosting eight of the 20 races on the Formula One calendar. How important a market has it become for F1? It must be important as we’re going there so much. It’s good for the sport to have new markets and there are many new fans which is a good thing.