Raikkonen aims to exit Ferrari on a high
Kimi Raikkonen says is hoping to end his Ferrari career on a high at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend
The Finn, world champion with the Italian squad in 2007, will leave Ferrari at the end of the season to make way for Spaniard Fernando Alonso.
His exit will close a three-end stint at the Maranello-based outfit.
"The race in Abu Dhabi will be my last Grand Prix with Ferrari and as usual I will give it everything to gain the best possible result," the Finn said on Ferrari's website.
"We'll try to conclude this difficult year with a good result, hoping that it will be enough to gain the third place in the Constructors' Championship, McLaren took over in Brazil. It will be difficult, because the competition is very strong.
"Furthermore in Brazil the two titles have been assigned, so maybe there are certain drivers who will risk a little bit more, as everything has been decided already. Our direct competitors are still improving their car, while we have been using the same car since the race in Hungary at the end of July."
He added: "As I wrote before, it's time for me to say goodbye to the guys at Ferrari after three years together. I'm proud of the things we achieved, especially the drivers' title in 2007 and the constructors' title in the same year and in 2008.
"This season the car wasn't as competitive as we wanted, but at least we managed to win one race and we gained a certain amount of points. Let's hope we can conclude the season with something nice to be remembered."
Raikkonen added that it was hard to make predictions for the Yas Marina race, which will make its debut on the calendar this weekend.
"There are many expectations as far as the Yas Marina circuit is concerned, but it's difficult making any predictions, because we're racing there for the first time.
"As far as we can see the organisers have done some great work and the circuit seems to me very interesting and challenging. Furthermore there will be a very special challenge, given the fact that we'll start the race in sunlight, while it will end with artificial lights: this will definitely add some suspense."
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