Kimi's neck hair as long as his losing streak---
There has been 25 Grand Prix' since Kimi's last win. During the streak also the hair of the 29 year old has grown pretty long. Paddock talk is that because of the bet made by Kimi, he won't cut his hair until he wins.
- There's no bets. Always everyone thinks that every thing has a bet. This is just normal hair growth, Kimi laughs in TS special interview.
- It is a new style, but I've had it for a while now. I just haven't been arsed to go get a haircut.
Alonso is coming, are you ready?
Let's go to the number one topic in the F1 world. For the last weeks people have started to believe that Fernando Alonso would move to Ferrari already at next season. Spanish and Italian press and after that also other press has reported that the other world champion Kimi Räikkönen would need to make room for the spanish star, while Felipe Massa could stay.
How much does this kind of writing hurt Räikkönen mentally and professionally?
- I'm not stressed by those talks at all. It's been like that many years already and it always had the same tone. These people here at paddock doesn't after all know anything. Some just write without knowing the facts, and the rest of them just believe.
They are bringing Alonso for your place to Ferrari?
- I don't know anything about that, Räikkönen states.
How long do you have time to be uncertain, whether you drive for Ferrari next year or not?
- I don't know much about other teams. All I know is that if I didn't drive for Ferrari for a reason or another, I can get a drive from another team. It depends on so many things. Let's just take a look first what's going to happen.
When Ferrari announced the Räikkönen move in September 2006 in Monza, Kimi was thinking that Ferrari will be his last team in F1.
Surely this will happen, if Räikkönen can decide himself what he wants to do in F1.
- It it absolutely certain that I will decide myself, what I want, and not Ferrari or anybody else can decide it for me. But at this stage it depends on so many things.
When everything is clear we can look for something else if required. But it's nothing to worry about right now.
Does this kind of uncertainty speed your will to withdraw from F1?
- I don't know. It's useless to talk until we find out what's going to happen. There are so many things, how things will run out. We just need to see, if you need to leave the team, who pays and what. Of course if Ferrari will pay me, I might not be able to go to drive for another team. There are however so many things that needs to be solved. It eventually will get solved, and won't get better by worryig.
So how long will you keep driving?
- I don't now. I haven't bothered to think anything about future. I just haven't had to. I think I will notice, when this is not interesting anymore.
How much has F1 changed during the 9 seasons you've been in?
- It has changed a lot. Rules have changed and cars have changed a lot. But I don't know if the business itself changed anywhere. It's the same, but maybe the F1 business is just bigger.
- Now this situation is new, because of the global economic crisis, and it has brought a lot new rules. They change the nature of the F1 a bit, but maybe the whole package hasn't changed much.
How fast do you learn these routines?
- I noticed it very quickly during my first season in Sauber 2001. It's the same races, same tracks, same people, same schedules and same questions. Only the differences in time zones make a little change to these routines.
So has Kimi Räikkönen had to change his personality when growing from a rookie to a world champion?
- Not really. Of course some people have always sometimes tried to change me, but I have no interest to do anything that I don't like. If people aren't interested what I do and what kind of person I am, it's their problem.
In the track you always perform 100%, but how about PR events?
- I can do that in PR events as well. It is absolutely no problem. Of course sometimes it's annoying to go somewhere when you could be at home. Usually those events last like half a hour and are so easy as they can get, because they always ask the same questions.
Räikkönen gets to his favourite track, Spa now. How different is to drive the lap now with slick tyres?
- It's no different to drive slicks here than any other track. Spa is one of the best tracks I know. I think it's because that usually at Spa you get good races and a lot of overtaking. I think the whole circuit is great, not just a single corner.
What if instead Luca Badoer, your team mate would be Michael Schumacher?
- I don't know. It wouldn't have effected the way I drive. And I don't think he could have performed very well either, Räikkönen thinks.