Mika Salo Q&A

"Everything looks good, everything's on schedule. We did everything that we wanted to do with the old car, and the new car is there now. I can't wait to drive it in January with everybody else for the first time. My targets and the team's targets are a little bit different. The team is happy just to be in the race, but that's necessarily what I want. As a driver I want a lot more. I'll do my best and I'll see where the car will take me. We've been testing always alone, and we have no comparison with anybody. My expectations are very high, to be honest."



"It's no different from the other ones. Most of the teams have people of different nationalities. You don't really know who is from where when you walk around in the company - you have no idea, because everyone speaks English. Of course there are a lot of Germans, and the mechanics speak German, but overall the language is English."



"They are in Italy and we are in Cologne! The language is English in both teams mainly, and everything is built in one house. That's very important. It helps with reaction time when we need something new - the part will come immediately, on both sides, the engine and the chassis. The only difference is that at Ferrari everything happens automatically. Here it's new, so everything takes a little thinking before it happens. It's something that comes with experience, and I'm sure that quite sure we'll get to it. Of course we are a brand new team, and they are 50 years old, so there's a big difference there. But the way of working seems to be quite similar. I'm pretty happy about everything."



"He's a very nice guy. We've worked together quite well this year, and I've got absolutely no problems with him. He's got a lot to learn about F1, and if I can help him, then that's what I'll do."



"Time goes so fast really. It feels like a couple of weeks ago that I was in Australia for the first race. Actually I went to see only three races this year, because I really don't want to hang around them when I have nothing to do, because I'd rather concentrate on our job here. Like I said time has gone so fast it's actually scary some times. It's really looking good at the moment. We've been driving and testing alone all the time, and nobody knows what we've done, which is good fun, because we're a big question mark at the moment to everybody else."



"It looks like it, yes. The weight is a lot less, and it's more easy for the guys to work on."



"It's completely Gustav's car. Of course we had comments from the old one, what not to do with it, but mainly Gustav knew what he was doing."



"Normal problems - no downforce and very heavy, and very difficult for the guys to work with."



"I knew from the beginning, they showed me what they had planned and what it was going to be like. There was no question that I'd join the team. You can see now that it's great, and the atmosphere is really ambitious for next year. I think we'll do well."



"Not really, no. At the beginning it was difficult - I crashed in the first test and missed nearly three months testing, but as soon as I got back in the car and was driving you could see every day that we made progress. Every day we were on the circuit, it was better. Little by little it was better, and the last day we did this year was the best so far."



"It's impossible to say. All the elements are here. We need everything to click together, and we're there. It's not going to happen next year, though."



"Even that is difficult. We'll see in January when we've got other guys on the same circuit, because now we've no idea if we're five seconds ahead of them, or behind. After the first test we'll know a little bit better where we are. But I think the clearest picture is Australian qualifying - then we'll know how fast the car is, because even in the winter testing most guys run underweight, and you can do things to get the lap time for your sponsors."



"We are, definitely. What we need is to do a couple more race simulations. We've only done one serious complete race with pit stops. We need a couple more of those for the guys to get used to the speed of an F1 race weekend, when there's no time to think, and you just have to act."



"It would have been nice if he had continued next year, and then it would have been the three of us. But I'm really happy for Kimi, getting out of Sauber as soon as possible, straight into a top team. That's exactly what he needed."



"He's good, and that's what happens when you're in the right place at the right time. He didn't have to start from the worst team on the grid. Most of the good drivers are lost when they drive for the worst team for one year and everybody thinks they are shit because they have a shit car."



"It's very nice! I'm very happy, and I still can't believe I'm a father. I had feelings after that which I never thought I'd have, so it's quite strange."



"I'm still a teenager. It has nothing to do with that. In fact in a few years' time I'll have somebody to do stupid things together with!"



"We were looking for a name that we could use in Japan, Finland, and also in the English language. So that's it. The second name is Yuki, which is a Japanese name completely, and the third name is Roland, from Ratzenberger."



"Is he? Maybe I'll have to change mine then! I didn't know that."