Kimi's Abu Dhabi review, Leaving with fond memories

6th November 2009

Well, my three years with Ferraria are over.

I had an opportunity to fulfill one of my dreams and now I'm looking for new challenges. I leave Ferrari with very fond memories and say ciao to everyone at Maranello.

I won the drivers' world championship and helped the team to two constructors' championships in 3 years. I've made many friends in Ferrari and we had a nice time together.

This year did not go according to plan, but that's life. The package was not very competitive yet will still finished in fourth place in the constructors' championship, only one point from third. We struggled a lot with the car, but still we managed to get some good results, the highlight being the victory at Spa.  The team showed we could tackle with the problems we had in the beginning of the season.

It was not a great finish for the season. The facilities are second to none at Abu Dhabi. However, there are not too many places to pass which made the racing more of a procession. We knew before we came here, that it would be very difficult to score any points. There are many corners and we lack overall downforce and grip. The car did not ride the curbs very well so that added to the problems. There was nothing to do during the race. We started 11th and finished 12th. That tells all of the weekend.

Now everybody can focus on next year like Ferrari have done for many weeks.

 Is it going to be different? At least, there are not so many changes next year. No refueling and smaller front tyres are the main things. At the start of the race the cars will feel very difficult to drive with so much fuel on board, so preserving the tyres will play a part.

Qualifying is now like the old days where we do not use fuel so that will be more fun. It's hard to believe that I have been in F1 already for nine years. I am very motivated to win races and a championship again, and will only remain in F1 if I can race for a team that can give me a car to fight at the front. Let's wait and see what happens.

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