Sportbild020414_1.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte) Sportbild020414_2.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte) Sportbild020414_3.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte) you can practice your German Sonny
it's similar to La Stampa interview, probably done at same time but there are some new questions
quote"The car doesn't fit my driving style"
SPORT BILD: Mr. Raikkonen, have you seen the movie "Rush" about your idol James Hunt? KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN (34): Yes, partially. I think the racing wasn’t very well represented. But that only us drivers can estimate. It all seemed a bit artificial.
Do you see in today's drivers also a James Hunt and Niki Lauda? No, not really. The sport has changed since then too much. Now it’s really almost only about business. So it is difficult to remain true to yourself as a character in public.
You are one of the few who have not let others change you. Would you also like to have driven Formula 1 in the 70s? No question about it. That was real racing. The sport was given much more priority. I think the guys back then had more fun than we have today. The thrill was greater. And also the danger. Also this is, what for me racing is about.
What would you change in Formula 1 today if you could? The racing itself has to be exciting again. I want more fights, real wheel-to-wheel battles. But that's not so easy to manage when you at the same time want to build sophisticated cars. It is how it is. I can’t change it.
Your friend Sebastian Vettel has also criticized the new formula 1 - and has been criticized by his fellow drivers for it. For him the engines are too quiet and the cars too slow. The volume makes no difference for me really. When we drive now our ears hurt less. Everything has its pros and cons. (smiles) But everyone can have his opinion.
You were driving two years in the World Rally Championship. Could Formula 1 look something up from WRC? You can not compare both racing sports. If you make a mistake in Formula 1, there are huge run-off areas. Those however you need to permanently drive at the limit. In the rally there are trees on the roadside. You have to calculate the risk much more. But as I said, if I had no fun in Formula 1 anymore, I would not be here.
Robert Kubica won last year's WRC2, but finds himself again and again in a ditch or on a tree again. Have you watched him now and then? Yes, and I know how difficult it is to move these cars quickly at the limit. There just happen sometimes mistakes - and they have greater impact than here in Formula 1 Nevertheless, Robert has the speed, and the more experience he collects, the better he will be able to assess when to push and when not to.
You were seventh in Australia, Malaysia twelfth. Did you expect such a difficult restart with Ferrari? 2007 you have won your first race with Ferrari. 2007 can not be compared with this year. The cars are completely new. Since it is not entirely abnormal that one has problems. Yes, we are not yet where we want to be. And the car also doesn’t fit my style of driving. Until we've managed to achieve that, it will take one or two races. But this is not a disaster, at least I still collect points.
You came in F1 in 2001 as a young gun. How do you feel now as the oldest driver on the grid? (Smiles) It's how it is. It doesn’t interest me how young or old I am or others are. I want to win more races and I’m working hard at it with my team. But I think it's also good when young drivers get a chance and can prove themselves.
That does not sound like your famous "I don’t care" attitude. If my performance would not matter to me, I would not be here. One shouldn’t underestimate this: It is not so easy to always give everything. That costs a lot of power. Although we are well paid, without the fun of driving I would not be here.
Have you already thought around the end of your career? No, I don’t have any plans. I don’t think that my life will change much when I stop. I don’t have to travel so much and can spend more time at home.
For your team mate Fernando Alonso Ferrari is supposed to be the last team of his career. For you too? I've said this during my first time at Ferrari. And as you see, I have kept my word. I'm here again, and I'm sure that I won’t change teams again. I won’t drive in Formula 1 forever.
Do you regret to have left Lotus? (sighs) No! Although I had two successful years, I'm happy I'm not there anymore.
Is Alonso the best team mate you ever had? Hard to say. The cars and rules are so different now. This makes a comparison difficult. Sure, Fernando is a very good driver. But I have no desire to rank team mates.
Jacques Villeneuve has claimed in SPORT BILD that you already feel the pressure of Alonso, who wants to bury you. This is nothing special. I always try to beat my team mate and look where I can improve myself. I want to do a good job and I am disappointed when I can’t do that. And I also know that I still have work to do.
When there was talk about you coming to Ferrari, Alonso spoke up for Felipe Massa and said that he is faster than you. Were you annoyed by that? (waves his hand) No. I don’t care what other people say.
After four very good years Sebastian Vettel has problems this season. Do you believe in his comeback? Bu the Red Bull isn’t so bad. Since the tests they have certainly made a big jump. I wouldn’t write them off. Just like I would not write us off as well. Our car is not bad, we just have to get the whole package to work.
Are you also concerned about the fate of Michael Schumacher? I don’t want to interfere much. It’s a sad thing and I hope he will get back on his feet as soon as possible.
When flight attendant Minttu Virtanen moved in with F1 star Kimi Räikkönen she had to adapt herself to the huge house and get used to the fact that in this cohabitation the moments together are rare and it requires a lot of planning. “I’m not leaving my job. It would feel weird to be totally dependent on someone.”
When flight attendant and a fitness model Minttu Virtanen, 27, was introduced to Kimi Räikkönen, 34, with a help of mutual friend last summer, the crush was immediate. It has been a fast-paced relationship; in November Minttu moved in with Kimi in Kaskisaari, Helsinki. The change of home was overwhelming and massive; Minttu lived in a 34m2 house before and in Kaskisaari there is +500m2. “In the beginning I was nervous about being alone in a big house. When I came home from work I checked every room that there is nobody there. I never thought that I would be the type of person who admires the scenery but I’ve noticed that how relaxing it’s just to sit and look at the sea”.
She has brought some new fresh little details to the decoration of the house but nothing massive. “The house was so beautifully decorated already and I’m not that keen on having a really decorated house. It doesn’t matter where I am as long as I have my loved ones close to me. With Kimi in this relationship I feel like I’m in the right place.”
The loneliness strikes when spending the night alone.
She had to get used to the big house as well as to the fact that the year is spent following the F1 calendar. Minttu gives credit to her employer FlyBe as they are really flexible what comes to his new life situation. “We follow and live with the F1 calendar and I try to arrange my timetables in a way that I could support Kimi as much as I can. At least for now the holiday requests have been taken with ease by my employer.”
With both of them going round the world all the time the long-distance relationship has become familiar quickly. The fact is that being together daily is not possible. They connect with each other a lot in the internet and with mobile phones. “In a long-distance relationship reciprocal understanding and trust are the most important things.” “When I’m working it’s easier to cope with it [not being with Kimi] when you have something else to think. But when I’m spending the nights alone at home the loneliness strikes and that makes me sad. At those moments I have to think about the future and comfort myself on the fact that this doesn’t continue like this forever. This is how it is now but one day it will change.”
Minttu admits that in less than a year a lot has happened but the routine life has stayed the same. “My life hasn’t turned upside down although there is some new and fun stuff. My life, job and friends are still here in Finland. I’m not going to give up my job or my independence just because of Kimi and his career taking him around the world. It would feel weird to be totally dependant on somebody, for me it’s important to do my own things.”
LIFE AND LIFE-LONG BAN FOR CANDY
“Own things” really are what Minttu is spending her time in. She has one career as a flight attendant but she also has another occupation, as a fitness model for Bealive. Sports are her passion and there could be a lot of opportunities for her in that category. Minttu has just started a personal training education and she’ll be a qualified personal trainer next fall. “I don’t know whether it could be my number one job but at least it would be something that I could do and go around the world. I also get some depth and education to my own training from it and I am going to design a training programme for Kimi too. He has already said that it’s OK.”
Minttu admits that his attitude towards racing drivers has changed through Kimi. “I understand them who say that driving a car around a track isn’t sport. I couldn’t belive that it’s so physically demanding before I saw the speed and the racing close-by. They need a great bodycontrol and fitness just to stay on the seat in those speeds let alone the blistering heat of some races. My understanding of the sport has changed totally and the I now have a huge respect towards the drivers.”
Minttu mostly enjoys the vigorous focus in her training. It’s something he often experience on the running track or in the gym where she follows a custom-made training programme. “I’ve never been on a diet or exercised just to look skinnier. I think it’s more healthier and eye-pleasing to have a muscular body.”
Kimi’s home in Switzerland has it’s own gym but in Helsinki the couple trains in a private gym close by the Kaskisaari home. “Exercising is self-evident and a intergral part of my life. It’s also essential for mental health. There are only a few things that give feeling like after training. If I don’t have the time to do sports it affects everything, I’m more tired, angry and I can’t eat that well.
What comes to the eating, Minttu has one weakness.
“We can’t have candy at home. I have no self-control over those!”
As a hostess in the home alone Minttu prepares quick meals like salads, chicken and vegetables. On those days when Kimi is at home, he cooks or they go out to eat sushi or a good-old stakes. “I like to keep the home organised and clean but I’m not a cook.”
LOVE FOR KIMI
They fell in love in summer 2013. Minttu has been seen on the paddock but otherwise the couple has lived off the headlines. “Kimi’s calmness made an impact on me. He has this wonderful habit of taking everybody in to account. His personality is full of beautiful characteristics.”
Being a superstar is something Minttu doesn’t noticed in Kimi’s presence. “The ordinariness of him is one of the things that made me fall in love with him. He is also funny as hell.”
I found this news. most of them are google translation and I made the article short to edit.
quoteIS: Kimi Raikkonen acquired a luxury apartment in the center of Helsinki
Formula 1 driver Kimi Raikkonen has acquired a new brilliance apartment right in the center of Helsinki, reported on Evening News.
The magazine reports that Räikkönen's new apartment is located just a few hundred meters away from Stockmannista. The penthouse has more than 200 square meters, the cost is nearly three million.
The apartment is situated in the year 1896, completed value of the property. The apartment includes two large terraces .
IS reports, Räikkönen will also make the apartment an extensive, approximately two million -euro renovation. Kimi's home in Switzerland is estimated up to 30 million euro.
(Kimi's Ferrari salary is estimated as 20 million per year)
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Mon Mar 31, 2014 4:26 pm (Last edited: Mon Mar 31, 2014 5:26 pm)
miezi!!!!!!
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