ライコネン、公式プレスリリースでピットストップ事故のミスを認める
ヨーロッパGP、2回目のピットストップで給油リグがささったまま動き出してしまったアクシデントに対して、フェラーリ公式プレスリリースの中で、ライコネンは自分のミスだと認めています。
ちなみに、クルーは背中と足を負傷したものの、重傷にはいたらなかったということです。よかったですね。
＜キミのコメントの日本語訳＞
こんな1日の後では、あまり言うことはない。もちろん、僕が望んでいた週末ではなかったけど、この最悪の結果にもかかわらず、今もタイトル争いからは外れていないと信じている。まだ6レースあるし、60ポイントが手つかずのままなんだ。今では形勢がより困難なのはわかっているけど、僕たちは状況があっという間に変わるのを見てきている。今日は、スタートでひとつ順位を落とし、第1スティントはずっと渋滞に引っかかってしまった。その後、目の前のコースが空いたときはプッシュできたし、いいラップタイムで走れていた。2回目のピットストップでは、ミスをして行くべきタイミングより前に出て行ってしまった。幸運にもピエトロ（・ティンピーニ、負傷したメカニック）はあまりひどい怪我でなかったよ。彼がすべて大丈夫なことを祈っているし、早くよくなってほしい。いずれにせよ、その後エンジンが壊れたので何も違いはなかったね。これからは次戦の準備と予選パフォーマンスの改善に集中しなければいけない
■フェラーリ公式プレスリリース（原文）
European Grand Prix – 24th August 2008
Ten points for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro in the European Grand Prix thanks to Felipe Massa’s fourth win of the season, the team’s sixth of the year. Kimi Raikkonen had to retire at the start of lap 46 when lying sixth, because of an engine failure on his F2008. At this his hundredth Grand Prix start, Felipe secured his ninth career win, bringing the Scuderia’s total of victories to 207 from 770 races entered. The Brazilian now lies second in the Drivers’ championship, six points down on the leader, while Kimi is third, thirteen behind. Ferrari still heads the Constructors’ classification, eight points ahead of its nearest rival. Next week, the Scuderia will be on track at Monza for four days of testing, starting on Tuesday 26th. Andrea Bertolini drives on the first day, followed by Massa (two days) and Raikkonen (one.)
Stefano Domenicali: “Felipe has had an extraordinary weekend. Yesterday he was very quick in qualifying andtoday he drove in impeccable style, without putting a foot wrong to take what was a very well deserved win after the disappointment of Budapest. I want to compliment him and the whole team who have worked so hard in preparingfor this event. Unfortunately, once again, we have suffered with a reliability problem, this time on Kimi’s car, whichlost us precious points. Now we have to find out what happened in yet another engine failure and then decide how toreact. Clearly what happened is serious and we will have to do all in our power to make up for the ground we have lost through reliability problems in the coming races. Now we must continue to push to the maximum to develop thecar and improve reliability in order to be as well prepared as possible for the forthcoming races. We still have twotest sessions, at Monza and then Jerez and a lot of hard days work in the factory. Finally, I want to say a few wordsabout Piero Timpini, our mechanic unfortunately injured in Kimi’s second pit stop: his first words were to say sorry,as though the incident was his fault: it is thanks to the passion, dedication and professionalism, that these guys show on a daily basis for Ferrari how special is our team.”
Felipe Massa: “It’s fantastic having won this race, especially after the disappointment of Budapest. The team did anamazing job in preparing for this Grand Prix and the benefits of that could be seen right from the very first day.Yesterday, I got pole and today the win, with the race fastest lap as the icing on the cake. You cannot ask for moreespecially at my one hundredth grand prix with every single one of them powered by a Ferrari engine. I got a goodstart and I pushed to the maximum right from the early laps. In the second part of the race, the car was exceptional,but also in the final stint, when I had the softer tyres, I could do the lap times easily. This is an important moment inmy career and I must continue to work in this way. I am sorry for what happened to Kimi: we have to look verycarefully at our reliability. I am confident the team knows which countermeasures to take to react to this issue, as ithas always done in the past.”
Kimi Raikkonen: “Not much to say after a day like this. It was definitely not the weekend I was hoping for but I donot believe that, despite this negative result, I am now out of the running for the title. There are still six races to goand sixty points up for grabs. We have seen that the situation change really quickly, even if I realize things are nowmore complicated. Today, I lost a place at the start and I was stuck in traffic for all of the first stint. Then, when I hada clear track ahead of me, I was able to push and was doing good lap times. At the second pit stop, I made amistake and left before I should have done. Fortunately, Pietro (Timpini) is not too badly hurt. I wish him all the bestand hope he gets better soon. In any case, it would not have changed anything as then the engine broke. Now wemust concentrate on preparing for the next rounds and on improving our qualifying performance.”
Luca Baldisserri:“ A great performance from Felipe all weekend long. He was fantastic and deserves all our praise.Unfortunately, yet again, we were not reliable, both from a technical point of view and in how we operated on thetrack, given what happened during Raikkonen’s pit stop and then the failure of his engine, which initial investigationsseem to point at a similar failure to the one Felipe experienced in Hungary. Fortunately, Pietro Timpini, the mechanicoperating the refueling, injured at Kimi’s second stop, got away with just a small fracture to the left foot and it is notparticularly serious. Today we have seen two sides of the coin. We have a great potential, from both the team andthe car, capable of putting us in front of everyone else, but if not all elements are operating at their optimum, then weare throwing away precious points that could cost us dear. We must work to remedy these problems and that’s what we will do starting in the days that follow.”