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| Kimi Raikkonen took a strong third position in the Belgian Grand Prix to move him back into fourth position in the Drivers' Championship while Romain Grosjean had a short race, ending with contact heading into the f |
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Kimi Räikkönen, P3, E20-05
"I made a pretty okay start, similar to Jenson [Button]’s and I overtook the
Sauber. I saw a lot of action in the mirrors but luckily it missed me. Unfortunately, we
didn’t have the pace today. My car wasn’t great all weekend and we
couldn’t find a competitive setup. On new tyres it was okay, but we had to use a lot
of downforce to prevent sliding. That meant we were very slow on the straight. You could
see this in my battle with Michael [Schumacher]. Each time I passed him he just went
straight back past down the Kemmel straight. My only chance was to go for a gap at Eau
Rouge. Luckily it paid off and I managed to stay ahead of him that time. We didn’t
have the pace today and it wasn’t an easy race, so P3 was not too bad.”
Romain Grosjean, DNF, E20-04
“When your life is all about racing, not being allowed to attend an event is
probably one of the worst experiences you can go through. That said, I do respect the
verdict of the Stewards. I got a good start - despite being disturbed by Pastor’s
early launch, which I think was the case for everybody at the front - and was heading into
the first corner when the rear of my car made contact with the front of Lewis
[Hamilton]’s. I honestly thought I was ahead of him and there was enough room for
both cars ; I didn’t deliberately try to squeeze him or anything like that. This
first corner situation obviously isn’t what anyone would want to happen and
thankfully no-one was hurt in the incident. I wish to apologise to the drivers who were
involved and to their fans. I can only say that today is part of a process that will make
me a better driver."
Eric Boullier, Team Principal
"It’s been a tough day for the team but we fully respect the Stewards’
decision. Romain won’t be driving at Monza but he still has our full support.
We’ll announce the name of his replacement a bit later in the week. As far as the
race is concerned, unfortunately we didn’t have the pace for Kimi to challenge
Jenson [Button] or Sebastian [Vettel]. We had to look closely at the strategy during the
race to see if we should switch to one stop, but in the end a podium finish still brings
us some good points. Of course, everyone talks about ‘the win’, and this is
something we all want. We were not fast enough for it today, so we all need to keep
working hard for this goal."
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