Raikkonen: 2008 already in the past
Kimi Raikkonen says he has already put the disappointment of the 2008 season behind him as he aims to bounce back and fight on top this year.
The 2007 world champion was unable to defend his crown as he struggled to match the pace of Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa, who won five races compared to Raikkonen's two.
But as Ferrari unveiled their 2009 challenger, the F60, at Mugello, Raikkonen was adamant that he is starting a new chapter this year.
"Last year was not exactly what I wanted but that is in the past now and we will try again this year," said Raikkonen. "Of course it is a big question mark how good the car will be because the rules have changed a lot.
"But we are very confident that the car should be very good and we will see in the next few weeks how good it is against the others.
"But for sure we'll try to win the world championships, but we'll see how it is and we'll go from there."
Raikkonen admitted it took some time to get used to the new-looking car, but the Finn said he already liked the new machine.
"It looks different because of the new regulations, but after looking at it for a little while you get used to it," he said. "It looks different but it looks very good. I'm looking forward to see it run and see how it goes."
Felipe Massa feeling stronger than ever
Felipe Massa says he is feeling a lot stronger as a driver following his championship challenge in the 2008 season.
The Brazilian lost the title by one point to McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, in a thrilling season finale in Brazil, where Massa was champion until the final corner of the final lap.
As Ferrari unveiled their 2009 challenger, Massa admitted the experience had made him stronger as he mounts his championship challenge again this year.
"Every year I feel stronger," Massa said. "I think after so much experience in these six years I feel stronger, I feel more experienced, especially after last year, with how difficult the championship was.
"That makes me ready and even more experienced for next season."
Massa also said it is difficult to judge who the most competitive teams will be following the radical rules changes to be introduced for the year.
But the Brazilian reckons McLaren will again be Ferrari's main rivals.
"It's difficult to say what the most difficult car to beat will be," the Brazilian added. "We expect McLaren to be very competitive, maybe BMW, who are working really hard and growing a lot year by year.
"Maybe Renault and maybe we can have some other team who can show great performance as well. So it's quite difficult to say but for sure we are working really hard and hopefully it will be us."
The Ferrari driver will be the man in charge of taking the new F60 to the track for the first time later today, and he admitted he was very proud.
"For sure when you drive for Ferrari and you bring the new car to the track for the first time is always quite important and emotional day for us," he said. "I'm very happy, proud because I think it's very important for a driver to take the car to the track for the first time."
He also confessed he was surprised by how small and compact the new car is.
"I'm quite surprised because I expected a big car like it was 10 years go. But the car is very, very small, very compact, the rear end especially. It looks pretty nice, it looks pretty good and hopefully it will be as quick as it looks."
