Räikkönen “as good as in Australia”

Kimi Räikkönen once again stood out at the end of the first day of free practice at the Malaysian Grand Prix. The Lotus driver set the best time in 1'36"569, finishing just ahead Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa. Compared to his teammate Romain Grosjean sixth at the end of the second session, the winner of the last Australian Grand Prix had an E21 benefiting from the latest exhaust configuration even if the two single-seaters from the teamenstone had new front wings.

?It?s the same car from the last race, which we won, so we know it can be fast,? assures Kimi Räikkönen after the first two practice sessions. “We changed some things and we improved to get where we wanted to be at the end of the session. So I feel as good as in Australia. We also drove a bit in the rain, which happens a lot here and the car responds well in all conditions. I don?t really give importance to the weather. We cannot change it and it is the same for everyone. As I said, the car is good in all conditions and I'm not worried about the rest. »

Nevertheless, Kimi Räikkönen remains cautious about the competitiveness of his car against rival teams, some of which focused on long stints rather than the performance of a benchmark time. ?We didn?t do a long stint this afternoon as planned because of the rain. So it's difficult to comment on the tires, but they worked well last time, so I hope it will be the same here?, specifies the 2007 world champion. “It was a very good day and it's always nice to be the fastest. But, obviously, that doesn't mean it'll be like that all weekend. We ran quite full of fuel, so I don't know what it will be like when all the tanks are lightened for qualifying. But I'm happy with our position and I expect a reasonable performance tomorrow. »