Raikkonen: “It was one of the easiest races of my career”

Kimi Raikkonen described his victory in the opening race of the 2013 Formula 2013 season, the Australian Grand Prix, as one of the easiest of his career.

Raikkonen started from seventh on the grid and won in Melbourne, joining Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso in a lead train after a good start, and then overtaking his rivals with a two-stop strategy.

“Our plan was to make two stops and although it's always difficult in the first races to know when to stop, we realized we had the right strategy,” he said.

“We followed the plan and it worked perfectly for us. I was able to save the tires and go fast if I needed to.”

“It was one of the easiest grand prix I've done to win. Hopefully we can have many of these races."

Alonso attacked Raikkonen in the closing stages, before the Finn regained his pace, setting a new fastest lap and crossing the finish line 11 seconds ahead.

“Fernando recovered in some sectors and then I had a bit of traffic, so I just wanted to make sure that if the rain came I wouldn't risk it,” Raikkonen said.

“It was a very nice race, not difficult.”

Despite its perfect start to the season, Raikkonen stressed that Lotus does not already consider itself a title contender.

“It was nice, but it's just one race, so it doesn't really change our goal and our work,” he said.

“We are satisfied with the victory and there is still a lot to do to try to win the championship.”