Zitat'I'd rather not be here if it's not going to be fun' - Kimi ESPN Staff September 5, 2013 Kimi Raikkonen: "You want to get something [in a contract] to make sure you will have a good time, and not just in the racing but also on the other side"
Kimi Raikkonen says he only wants to be in Formula One if he is driving for a team that allows him to have good time both on the race track and away from it.
Raikkonen was linked to a Red Bull drive next year but that door was closed when the team confirmed it had signed Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo earlier this week. The Finn is likely to remain at Lotus, although he has also been linked to Ferrari, but said he would only stay in the sport as long as he is enjoying himself.
"Obviously I enjoy it and it depends on many things," he said. "But you want to get something [in a contract] to make sure you will have a good time, and not just in the racing but also on the other side.
"I don't really see why I should do something that I don't enjoy or be something that I'm not. I'd rather not be here if it's not going to be fun. There are a lot of more important things that we have to decide."
Asked what went wrong in his negotiations with Red Bull, Raikkonen said: "I don't think anything went wrong. Probably they wanted a different thing. Go and ask them, I don't know.
"For me it doesn't really matter and it's not the first time. Sometimes you speak with people and it doesn't work out. There can be 10 reasons, but I have no idea. I think they took the option they think is the best and that's fair enough."
Raikkonen is currently 63 points behind Sebastian Vettel in the drivers' championship and after a retirement at the last race at Spa-Francorchamps admitted that winning the title is "probably not going to happen".
"It's definitely more difficult than it was at the last race," he said. "But we still have a chance and we will try to do the best that we can. It's not going to be easy and is probably not going to happen, but we will do the best that we can to get points back. It really needs some other things to go our way."
ZitatFragments of Time - Italian Grand Prix, Friday 6th September 2013
Kimi Räikkönen ended the day with the third fastest time on the opening day of the Italian Grand Prix weekend, with Romain Grosjean fourth in the order with an identical lap time of 1min 25.116secs. Sunny weather characterised both of today’s sessions at the historic Autodromo di Monza.
Technical programme notes - Kimi ran all day with the longer chassis configuration E21. - Both cars ran with the slimline rear bodywork package in low drag Monza. - Kimi evaluated a different front wing in the afternoon. - Pirelli’s hard (orange) tyre was used in the morning and the hard and medium (white) compound slick tyres were used in the afternoon session.
What we learned today: - The E21 demonstrated good pace in all configurations utilised.
Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03 Free practice 1: P5, 1:25.941, 22 laps Free practice 2: P3, 1:25.116, 36 laps
Kimi: “The car felt pretty normal for me today and we’re going to look at the data in order to make a decision on whether to use today’s specification or the older one. It doesn’t feel much different to me so it’ll be a decision based on what the data says. Today we were a little surprised to be third fastest, but we’re still quite far away from the fastest cars. There are still some areas for improvement so hopefully we can find more speed for tomorrow.”
Romain Grosjean, E21-02 Free practice 1: P12, 1:26.295, 23 laps Free practice 2: P4, 1:25.116, 40 laps
Romain: “We had a productive day today. The timesheets showed that Kimi and I were very close, however that doesn’t necessarily mean a lot. Kimi tested the new long wheelbase car and from today’s work we have sent data back to the factory and we will see what the outcome is when analysis comes back. As drivers, our feedback on the feel of the car is also key. It is hard to precisely compare the two though; it could provide more brake stability which is what we all want here in Monza, however each driver also has their own braking style.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “That was a fairly straightforward Friday for us with both cars evenly matched and both drivers happy. We’ve completed a good amount of low and high fuel runs as well as evaluating the two tyre compounds for race strategy. Romain was happy on longer runs whilst Kimi’s afternoon session was slightly interrupted with an engine water pressure issue during his long run, but this was no big drama. Overall, the car looks quick, reliable and we’re happy today.”
But Gro and Kimi had exact the same time after FP2.... one with long, one with short wheelbase. Maybe they have no benefit from the long wheelbase and take better, what they know. " title="dunno" />
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Thu Sep 05, 2013 3:07 pm
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" title="hmm" /> I noticed there was a smirk on his face when he said "I still don't have a contract..." 
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" title="blink" /> ...in two weeks? 
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