Steve Cooper: On the Limit

With your head typically buried in your work, you grow accustomed to overhearing Kimi Raikkonen's guttural, gravel-churning monotone being broadcast over the media centre's tannoy. It's a dense, unintelligible tangle of chewed-up consonants, delivered by a man who feels that simply opening his mouth to let the words escape fully-formed is, well, just too much hassle.

On Sunday evening, as I half-listened to the post-race press conference while scribbling some notes, an unexpected voice prompted me to look up and check the TV monitors to confirm what I'd just heard. Yes, this was the race winner - but he was no longer delivering one-line answers full of dense monosyllables; he was talking clearly, warming to his theme and actually opening his mouth to let the words go free. At one point, I'd swear I actually saw him smiling.