Raikkonen looking for Magny-Cours payback
Kimi Raikkonen heads into this weekend's French Grand Prix looking for payback, both from his defeat in last year's race at Magny-Cours and from his retirement from the lead of the European Grand Prix last weekend
The McLaren star looked set to take his first F1 victory in the 2002 French Grand Prix, until he ran wide on some oil late in the race, allowing Michael Schumacher through for the win.
Raikkonen finally took his first win in Malaysia earlier this year, and has been Schumacher's main challenger for the title so far this year, although his championship hopes took a hit when a Mercedes engine failure forced him to retire from the lead at the Nurburging last weekend.
"It was obviously a very disappointing end to the European Grand Prix last Sunday, but that is racing," said Raikkonen. "The MP4-17D felt great all weekend and it was a fantastic feeling to take my first ever Formula 1 pole. We are now focussing on the French GP where we will work hard to ensure we can run at a similar pace.
"I am particularly looking forward to the event and hopefully erasing the memories of my now infamous incident towards the end of the race last year. It was of course a bittersweet moment, when I missed out so narrowly on what would have been my first F1 victory. David [Coulthard] and myself did secure a double podium finish at the event and hopefully can do one better this year."
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