Australian Grand Prix – Melbourne, 18th March 2007
Kimi Raikkonen: 1st 1:25.28.770 58 laps
chassis 261
Felipe Massa: 6th +66.805 58 laps chassis
260
Weather: air temperature 21 °C, track temperature 33/34
°C, dry track, clear skies
First round of the championship and first victory for Scuderia
Ferrari Marlboro. On his debut in a Maranello car, Kimi Raikkonen
secured the Scuderia’s seventh win in this race, thus
bringing the total number of victories to 193 in 742 Grand
Prix participations. This was the tenth time from 106 starts
that Kimi has been the first past the chequered flag.
Jean Todt: “That was an exciting Grand
Prix! We started with our drivers at opposite ends of the
grid, with Kimi on pole and Felipe in last place because of
an electrical problem in the gearbox management that had hampered
his qualifying yesterday. Both of them put on a great performance.
Kimi maintained his first place after the start and then did
a very good job of managing the race, while Felipe staged
a great climb through the field to take him up to sixth place.
A new chapter in Ferrari’s history has got off to a
very good start. The chassis-engine package proved to be competitive,
the team worked with dedicated professionalism and the drivers
were impeccable. This all means that we can look forward to
the rest of the championship with prudent optimism, even if
we have seen there is some very strong and well prepared opposition
and some very talented young drivers. We have not yet reached
the desired level of reliability and we have to do a lot of
work on this as well as on improving our performance. I was
very happy to get two telephone calls, the first from Michael
as I was going up to the podium, which I handed to Kimi and
the other from Luca di Montezemolo who was jumping for joy
as if this was our first win in a decade. And indeed that
is the feeling for us all!”
Kimi Raikkonen: “A fantastic victory!
It is great to be winning again with my new team whom I want
to thank for giving me a great car. The race was not as easy
as it might have looked from the outside, partly because shortly
after the start, the radio failed so it was almost impossible
to talk to the pit wall. Fortunately we had prepared well
for the race and I knew what I had to do, but there were a
few difficult moments. I was not flat out all the time, adapting
my pace to the way the race was going. It was nice to hear
my national anthem again on the podium as it had been a while.
I have to say that last year it seemed to be the Italian one
I was hearing usually. This is a great way to start the championship.
We know we have a very competitive package but we still have
to work to make it even better and above all, reliable.”
Felipe Massa: “After what happened
in qualifying yesterday it would have been difficult to do
any better than this sixth place. I was able to run at a good
pace even with a full fuel load facing a race that would be
one long climb through the field. The F2007 was very competitive
and so I am optimistic about the next few races. But I cannot
forget the disappointment for the failure in qualifying, which
meant I had to start from the back of the grid. If not for
that, I would definitely have been fighting for the win. But
I am happy with the overall result in terms of what it means
for the team and I am happy for Kimi who won on his debut
with Ferrari.”
Luca Baldisserri: “This is a very
important result for the whole team, as it is the result of
the hard work from everyone in the Gestione Sportiva throughout
the winter. We took on a significant reorganisation and seeing
its efforts rewarded like this is further motivation for pushing
on even further. We picked up thirteen points thanks to extraordinary
performances from our two drivers. Starting from pole, Kimi
was able to control the race right from the start, while Felipe,
hampered by yesterday’s gearbox failure in qualifying,
started last and put on a really impressive climb up the order
to finish sixth. The F2007s were competitive and the only
problem was a radio malfunction on Kimi’s car, which
happened soon after the start. Now we must carry on working
to improve still further our competitiveness and to get the
overall reliability that is still eluding us.”
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