Assessment: Räikkönen, the Saviour of Ferrari

The Ferrari team has confirmed the arrival of Fernando Alonso for the 2010 season, which very clearly means that Finnish driver Kimi Räikkönen is being asked to pack his bags from Maranello. And yet, Räikkönen is indeed the savior of Ferrari. Since Massa’s accident, he has scored 35 out of Ferrari’s 67 points. Neither Luca Badoer nor Giancarlo Fisichella has managed to capture a single point.

During this race in Japan, Kimi Räikkönen, taking advantage of the various penalties, managed to place 5th on the grid to finish in 4th position after the checkered flag. A performance that completely satisfies his team director, Dominecali.

As for Fisichella, he finishes this Grand Prix in 12th position. The Italian does not give up and hopes to score his first (and last?) points for Ferrari in Interlagos.

Kimi Räikkönen – 4th:

The car wasn’t too bad today, but it wasn’t fast enough to fight for the podium. This fourth place is important for our third place in the constructors’ standings, but it will be difficult to maintain this position in the last two races. I will do what I can.

I was unable to gain positions at the start, especially since the first corner isn’t as far as I would have hoped. Therefore, I couldn’t make the most of the KERS. With the hard tires in the first stint, I was in a somewhat difficult situation, but then, with the soft tires, things improved considerably. I managed to pass Heidfeld in the pit stop. At the end of the race, there wasn’t much else to do.

Giancarlo Fisichella – 12th:

I had a better idea of the car this weekend, and I felt the effects, but the results don’t show my progress. Today, I was able to drive at a good pace, especially in the second part of the race. I’m ashamed to have lost a place to Kovalainen. We managed to overtake him in the pits, but then he found an opening as he exited the pits. Towards the end, I had to battle with Sutil who was very fast and on soft tires. The KERS helped me a lot. I’m looking forward to Interlagos, and bringing points back for Ferrari.

Stefano Dominecali – Team Principal:

In the end, it’s a positive result, I don’t think we could have done better than this fourth place. We can thank Kimi, because we remain 3rd in the constructors’ standings. Giancarlo also had a good race. With the soft tires, our drivers were very fast and were able to compete with the best. The team worked well, and we must continue to do so for the last two races.