Spanish GP: Raikkonen, “Continuous learning of the F14 T”

Kimi Raikkonen had the honor of being the first driver to hold a press conference in the new Scuderia Ferrari media unit at the Circuit de Catalunya. The Spanish Grand Prix, the first European race of the season, marks the debut for 2014 for motorhomes and hospitality.

Despite his arrival in Europe, the first questions asked of the Finn were related to his difficult weekend in Shanghai: “We had a difficult start to the season and I can't wait to get on track to try to improve” – admitted Kimi – “It's not an easy goal to achieve but I'm sure we can do much better than China. There many small things influenced the result and I'm sure we would have managed to solve many problems if we had had the opportunity to run in the first free practice session. Not being able to do so made our weekend decidedly difficult. However, we know what the problem was and, even if this start to the season has been anything but smooth, I'm sure we can reverse the trend. The only unclear point is when this will happen. I hope soon".

Mercedes won by dominating the first four races of the season and a common question up and down the paddock was: will they be unstoppable for the entire championship? The Scuderia Ferrari driver isn't sure: “We worked hard and improved the car at every race. Even a small thing in this world can make big differences, perhaps in terms of set-up" - says Kimi - "We have a better understanding of the car now, even if our rivals have certainly not stood still and will have carried out their own work of development. I hope that soon, in some races, we will be able to rival them."

When asked about the importance of getting a good result in Barcelona, ​​Raikkonen denied that this is a revelatory race: “It would be nice to get a good result here, because they always do well and make life easier but to do well it won't change our season here rather than on another circuit,” he said. “If we can make the car go the way we want, we can get the results we want. For the moment what matters to us is to have a calm and trouble-free weekend."