Q & A with Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen: I touched the inside kerb I just bounced off and hit the wall.

Q. Was it a question of losing concentration?

KR: No. I wanted to stay close in places to the Toyota because there were only two places that I could get very close and have any chance if he made a small mistake. That was one - before the back straight I needed to get very close and unfortunately I touched the kerb slightly too much and just when you hit that quite hard you can't turn too much and I couldn't turn any more so I just went a bit wide and hit the wall. Not the tyre wall, but the plastic blocks and I took the wheel off.

Q. Is this the end for your championship hopes?

KR: It was a pretty small chance anyhow. I'm not sad for my fifth place but I'm sorry for the team to lose those points. But for sure we'll try to do better next race.

Q. How did the rest of the race go?

KR: At the beginning of the race there were a couple of difficult laps but then the car was very good. Then we got the safety car and we had to stop behind Felipe and lost a lot of time. We tried to come back and we were able to get to fifth place and I wanted to go further but we got nothing in the end. I'm not sad for my fifth place, losing that for this error, but for sure for the team it would have been nice to get those points for them.

Q. What happened in Felipe's pitstop?

KR: I don't know. I didn't even look. I just tried to get close to him and then he left and the fuel rig was still connected. I don't really know what happened, probably the people who were watching on TV got better views.

Q. Your last victory was in Spain. What are your feelings on going for so long without a win?

KR: It doesn't change anything. I was in a position to try to win, but when the safety car came out the chance was pretty much gone. We've been close a few times but quite often we've been a bit unlucky so we try next race again. I haven't given up. We want to have some good races. We have not had the season we wanted but we have a good spirit. Of course this is not a nice day but I've seen enough in Formula One and we still have a good car and we should still be able to win some races this year.

Q. Is it a problem to race at a track on which safety cars are so likely?

KR: The safety car rule is very difficult for the people that is in the first 10 because more or less the safety car seems to come always in an area where we need to pit in. Then you really get the penalty or you are lucky because you stopped before the safety car. You lose a lot of places when you have to stop behind the safety car. It's a difficult rule - sometimes it's against you, sometimes it helps you but it's nothing to do with the circuits. It's the rule with the safety car.

Q. Is the car now more to your liking?

KR: The car is usually pretty good in the race, but we still have some work to do to get exactly what we want for one lap. It's definitely been better since we changed back to the parts that we performed well with when we used them in a couple of races this year but on one lap it's still not what we want. We were in a good position today but when the safety car came out it was all gone.

Q. When the safety car came out and you were pitting behind Massa, did you consider staying out for another lap?

KR: I think it wouldn't have made much difference to me. It's best to come in with everyone else and double fuel. You always lose out when you are the second car.

Q. Was the crash caused by a problem of the track?

KR: There is that one chicane where we talk about the kerbs that are very high and if you touch the kerb too much it bounces the whole car in the air. There's nothing you can do and the wall is pretty close. I tried to turn and slow down but it just took the wheel off. Not too hard, but it was just enough to take the wheel off.

Q. Lewis Hamilton has seven more points than Felipe. How important will your role be in the next three races.

KR: I know what the team wants - they want to win the world championship. We will see what happens. I'm trying to win races too and we will see what happens. I'm out of the championship anyhow.