Pre-event Press Conference. Present: Sébastien Loeb - Citroën Total World Rally Team, Mikko Hirvonen - BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, Kimi Räikkönen - Citroën Junior Team, Marcus Grönholm - Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team.

Q: Kimi, welcome to the WRC. We will see you compete this year with the Citroën Junior team; is this year going to be one of the biggest challenges you have faced in your career?
KR: I think it’s definitely going to be. It’s not going to be easy, I will enjoy it and enjoy the challenge. This will be one of the toughest events; the conditions are not easy. I need more time in the car to get used to it.

Q: The preparation is now complete, we have watched you test the car and compete at the Arctic Rally; do you feel fully ready to compete here in Sweden?
KR: Any kilometres we can do will obviously help. This is the learning process, we will learn a lot in Sweden and I expect once we go on the gravel it should be more easy. I hope we can finish and do some good times.

Q: What have you found the most enjoyable and the most difficult aspects of your WRC experience so far?
KR: Everything is nice. It’s all exciting. I did F1 for many years, and when you change it’s a nice experience. There are so many new things to learn. The difficult thing is to learn the roads and make the pace notes, that will take time to be as good as the others guys. This is the main thing, let’s see how it goes.

Q: Can you be in the top 10 here?
KR: That would be good. I really don’t have any idea where we’re going to be. We want some good speed. It’s more easy second time through (the stages); we will try to do the best we can.

Q: You’ve got World Champions sitting next to you. Have you had some good advice from them?
KR: They have been very helpful, but, unfortunately, you cannot teach the other guy to drive – you need to learn it yourself. It’s the experience that helps. They have maybe six years, Marcus has 20 years or something. It’s why I’m here to learn more.

Alain Pernot - Sport Auto, France
Q: Kimi, how useful was the shakedown for tuning the car?
KR: We tried two things, but it was the first time since the Arctic Rally, so it was nice to get back in the car. The car feels okay, but I can improve my driving rather than changing the car.

Marco Giordo - Autosprint, Italy
Q: Kimi, what you think about rally people, the media and the people? Are they different from F1?
KR: So far, it’s been friendly, if it stays like that..! For sure it’s a different atmosphere. I have enjoyed it. It’s been positive.

Eric Briquet - Auto Hebdo, France
Q: In the Arctic Rally you did some good times Kimi, you were one second behind Dani (Sordo) – is it possible to be one second behind the leader here?
KR: It will be more difficult. At least in the Arctic Rally, I was there one year before. If we can do that speed I’m very happy. But definitely the stages look very difficult and hopefully we’ve made good notes.

Marcus Stier - Sport Auto, Germany
Q: Kimi, you have a one-year programme this year, will you try to build a career in WRC or go back to F1?
KR: I have not made my mind up. This year I have a contract with Red Bull and with Citroen helping me. I have no plans for next year or for the years after. If it goes well, there’s a good chance [to stay in WRC], if not then there’s nothing planned. After a year there might be some new plans, we’ll see.

Kimi Raikkonen's World Rally Championship campaign begins with one of its biggest tests, Rally Sweden, this weekend. AUTOSPORT's David Evans talked to the Finn during his preparations for the event

Q. When did you decide you wanted to go to the WRC?
Kimi Raikkonen: Last year. I always had the passion for the WRC and I wanted to try and see how it is. After whatever happened at the end of the year we found the solution to race with the great team and Red Bull helping with the sponsorship. In the end it wasn't so difficult choice [to come to WRC].

Q. Have you missed anything from F1 yet?
KR: So far, no. I'm excited to have this challenge now. Everything is new. I was in F1 for a long time and I don't miss it now. In the future, who knows?

Q. Which rally are you looking forward to the most?
KR: Any rally really. Apart from Jyvaskyla [on Rally Finland], where I know it a little bit, everything is new. I don't know the places or the stages or anything. It's always exciting to go to a new place and see how it is. In Formula 1 sometimes there is a new place, but usually the testing and everything is the same. Now everything is new, so it's exciting.

Q. What's the biggest challenge for you this year?
KR: Just to learn everything. There is so much to learn and to get the experience on all different conditions. Making the notes and listening to them right is also tough. I need to learn everything.

Q. Which is the most difficult part, learning the notes?
KR: You can make them, but to try and make them exactly as you want – and to drive on them at full speed is not so easy. You can make the notes, but if it's not exactly like it should be, then you can't drive as fast as possible.

Q. Olivier Quesnel has already said that if you have a good year this year, you could be Sebastien Loeb's team-mate for next year. How do you feel about that?
KR: There are a lot of stories, always. I want to learn things and be a good as we can be and then see what happens.

Q. Long term, do you want to be World Rally champion?
KR: It would be great, but we have done one rally with the car and we start next week in Sweden. Let's wait and see what happens.

Q. What about podiums later in the year?
KR: I don't really know what to expect because it's such a new thing. I know it's difficult and I want to get in the points in the beginning. Later in the year when we have some more experience, we can be a bit faster. Let's wait and see.

Q. What about on asphalt?
KR: Overall, this should be a bit more easy. Okay, it's a different car, but the feeling is much more easy to find. Comparing the surfaces, the snow is the most difficult to be fast and get everything right. I did only one gravel rally last year and that surprised me that it's much more similar to asphalt than the snow. It should be easier, but I haven't driven the car on asphalt, so I don't know yet.

Q. There's a natural assumption that you'll look forward to asphalt rallies more than gravel. Is this right?
KR: Yes. I know more about driving on asphalt than any other surface. It definitely helps to find the right line and to find the braking point. In that way, it should be easier, but until we do the first test or rally, it's impossible to say.

Q. What do you think about Michael Schumacher's return to F1?
KR: For me, it doesn't matter. I have seen something in the paper, probably he started to miss it and now he has a good option. Good for him.

Q. Did you follow the testing yesterday?
KR: No. I see just in the newspaper, like every day, if it's in the newspaper, you see it. I didn't follow it on the internet. I have a new challenge now and I'm more interested in this. Even when I raced in Formula 1, if I didn't do the test, I didn't look for the times.

Q. How have you found the other WRC drivers?
KR: I know some of them, I met some in earlier days. They're very nice. It's more open here than Formula 1. The teams are friends together more than F1. It's great and people have been very helpful. It's a more warm feeling here, people are more together. In Formula 1 you race each other, here you race the clock – it's slightly different, but the people are nice.

Q. Have you turned your back on F1 completely now?
KR: I already kind of did it, so we see what happens in the future.

Q. What's your deal with Red Bull.
KR: It's [for] one year.

Q. What did you think of your performance on the Arctic Rally? Was it what you wanted?
KR: Of course we went off on the first day and got stuck in the snow bank for a long time. But I don't really feel I have the good feeling with the car like I want it. I brake three times in one place where you should be braking once. There are still many areas where I can improve.
We were not so far away from Dani [Sordo]'s times. I need more experience, more running and more time with the people running the car. I was pretty happy in the end.
Purely the rally was for me to get used to the car and to try some different things. It was quite difficult conditions with the fresh snow and things like that. It was good practice and it definitely helped me for the next one.

Q. What's the aim for Rally Sweden?
KR: We're hoping for a good clean rally without any mistakes and then we see where we are. I have no idea where we will be. I want to try to do the best I can and have a good rally.

Q. Any more snow testing now?
KR: No. Just the shakedown before the event.

Q. What about gravel testing? When do you drive the car on the loose?
KR: It's after Sweden sometime. I don't know the date, but it will be before Mexico.

Q. Is it possible for you to do more smaller rallies this year?
KR: I don't know, we will have to see.

Q. But you will get a lot of testing on gravel – enough time in the car?
KR: I will get something around 10 to 15 days. I have no idea how many the others are doing, but this is pretty okay.

Q. Is rallying more difficult than Formula 1?
KR: Every sport is difficult when you start, but there are so many more things you cannot really change, the condition changes: it is what it is, but in Formula 1 you go to the same circuit and lap by lap you know it's going to be the same. But, in rallying, you can go from one stage to the next and it can be completely changing. There are many things that can change in rallying and you cannot affect those areas.

Q. Is rallying more fun than F1?
KR: It's more relaxed, definitely. More fun, it depends what you like: I like it because every corner is different in rally. There are a lot of things which can challenge you and in the end you are driving against yourself. Okay, you can go more sideways when you are sliding, but it's probably not the fastest way – going forward is faster. It's just a different sport.

Q. What's the feeling for WRC among the other drivers in Formula 1?
KR: I don't really know because I don't know how many F1 drivers know the sport that well. [Robert] Kubica has definitely done it for fun and [Heikki] Kovalainen knows the rally side. But I don't think the other drivers really have so much knowledge of what is rallying compared to Formula 1, so it's a bit tricky to say.

(Read Kimi Raikkonen's diary of his Arctic Rally weekend, exclusively in this week's AUTOSPORT magazine)

A Snowy Premiere

Isn't it so in the theater that after a bad dress rehearsal you have a good premiere. Hopefully the same applies to me on the rally stage.

Our practice, the Arctic Rally, didn't go that bad but there was that one blunder which should not happen again in Sweden.

It's really cool to go racing and start the season. You always enjoy it and it's what I've always wanted to do most.

My feelings are terribly great as always before the season's opening race. When you are a racer all you want to do is race. It's great that the rally season starts now while in F1 you had to wait for one month longer.

I know I don't have too much of rally experience but out of the five rallies I've raced three on snow. That's why it's good that the first WRC rally is the same element.

But the snow isn't an easy surface. You have to drive very precisely in a clean driving line so there won't be any extra program.

In Arctic rally I got a good feeling of snow and we got to compare our pace to Dani Sordo's pace. Well, Sordo went but that's how it was supposed to go when the guy is driving in a gang of the four best in the world.

We know with Lindström's Kaitsu where the difference came from. Now we have excercised with those things and tried to get the package in as good shape as possible for Sweden.

I need to get the car more comfortable to drive so that I know how it behaves and how it turns. Of course I also have to adapt my own driving style at the same time.

In Arctic rally our advantage was that we got to drive the rally with the same tyres we will use in Sweden.

People ask me all the time about what's my goal. I don't want to start acting rashly with those things because it's useless. We just try to get some good rallies in the beginning and start to lift the pace as soon as there's a possibility for it.

I'm going into an unfamiliar world now. All rallies except Jyväskylä (Rally Finland) are completely new experiences for me. That's why I have so much to learn and I have no idea of my own pace at this point.

We have been hashing over this but the truth is that the rally gang is much more laidback than the people on the F1-paddock are. These guys like to do everything together and we talk much more freely about driving.

If I don't find the pace it's for sure not because others don't want to advice me and help a newbie.

What are your ambitions for the season ahead?
"First of all we have a lot to learn from the rallies, and that's not going to be an easy challenge. We did one rally last weekend [read more here] and it definitely helped us going to Sweden. We'll just take things from there. We need to do our best, learn as quickly as we can and hopefully get some good results."

Will you be disappointed if you don't get a podium this season?
"I don't know, because it's too early to say. Like I said, we need to learn a lot. Hopefully at some point we can be really fast. But at the moment I don't know what to expect."

What are you looking forward to most this season?
"I would say everything, because everything is new and completely different to Formula One. At this stage it's all exciting; it doesn't really matter where we go or what we do, it's a new thing."

What is it about driving a rally car that you find so appealing?
"For me the thrill of driving is all about the challenge. And in rallies there are so many variables - like different conditions, different roads and different surfaces - that there is a big challenge. When you go on a stage, things can change from corner to corner so much and it's just a great feeling to drive the car when it's like that. There are a lot of things you can learn. For instance, in a rally you might have to master three different types of conditions. In Formula One that's not the case."

How do you get faster in a WRC car?
"You need experience and a lot of practise and testing. It takes time but I guess more kilometres will the main key to improvement. Also I need to learn the notes and be able to listen very well. They're the main things."

How does the WRC compare to F1?
"It's a completely different world. The events themselves are different and the people are different. At this launch, with everyone together, there seems to be a more open and easy relationship between the teams and that's one of the very nice things about rally. There is also a sense that the sport is picking up. There have been maybe some difficult times but it looks like everything is turning better and in the next couple of years it should be even more popular that it is now. It's quite strong."

Are you serious about rally?
"Yes. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't serious. Anytime I start something new I want to learn, and try to do the best I can. It's something that's going to be a big challenge and I'm looking forward to it."

Are you looking forward to any rallies in particular?
"In this car everything is new this year. Finland is the only one I know a little bit, so in that way that should be the easiest one, but what I learned there last year is that it's a tricky place. Asphalt rallies will also be nice; I'm looking forward to seeing how the car handles."

What about a return to F1? At what point in the year are you going to have to make that choice about what you do in 2011?
"I have set no deadlines on myself. Let's see how things are going. I really enjoy it here now, and if it's like this then maybe I stay or maybe I try something else. I have no plans, no deadlines yet. Let's see what happens."

It Starts From Tunturi (Arctic)
Official season preview | Finnish translation courtesy of Nicole

I have always said that you shouldn't make any astonishing conclusions before the first race. Now it's even more true. I feel like I would be a Finnish pioneer who went to conquer America. I don't know at all how things will go. The only thing I can promise you is that I will do my best and I won't give up at any point.

In the beginning it's more of building the trust because all races in the serie are in new places and I have to learn to trust the notes. It means a lot to me that Kaj Lindström is my co-driver. We are in a good sync. He is the best possible man for the job and without him I doubt I would have even gone into this project.

During the weekend we drove tests in Mid-Finland and they went well. The car works as a clock. You can see that it has been strong and reliable. Just like it has to be when it has won so many races and championships.

It's for sure that all other F1 drivers would like to drive a rally car - or at least try it. I already know what it feels like.

Now we go to Tunturi and make pace notes on Tuesday and Wednesday. We will get a feeling from the snow and make sure that everything works in cold conditions. The shakedown is on Thursday and on Friday we start pushing the race.

The Arctic start
(English version)

Well, this is what I’ve been looking for since signing the contract for WRC rally season 2010 with the Red Bull Citroen team. My feeling is about the same like it always has been before the first race of the season in Formula One. Like us all I feel the butterflies in my stomach in a nice way. All in all my feeling is the very best to start racing again.

The most motivating thing for a racing drivers is to approach a new kind of challenge. Obviously, going to rally is all new challenge for me. That makes it so exciting to start this season.

The new car Citroen C4 WRC has fitted me well since the first test. Now we have had 3 days with it. It feels nice, while you see how effectively it reacts to the changes in the set-up. Everything we have tried has worked as it should. We feel we are working into the right direction and that’s what the engineers confirmed to us in the briefings, too.

I start this brand new campaign this week form the Arctic Lapland Rally in Rovaniemi. In our programme this rally is only a preparation – like a final test – for Sweden, where the WRC season starts in February. It’s great to get going so soon. After testing the car first time in France, I’ve been looking forward to race it, too.

The winter break went fast. I spent it exactly in the same way I always did while I was in Formula One. First I took some holiday, had fun with my family and friends and then I went back to training. I have trained in the same way like always with Mark Arnall. I know the rally will be physically very, very tough. It will be hard shaking and ratting and sometimes in the cockpit it will be hot like a Finnish sauna with your overall and helmet on. You have to be top-fit to be able to focus all the time on your driving.

I’ve always said that it’s useless to give too much predictions before the first race of the new season. Obviously, now I mean it even more than ever before. I don’t know how the oldtime Finnish pioneer settlers felt before going to America, but, most likely, I feel a little bit the same for this new adventure of mine.

How it goes, I don’t know. Let’s wait and see, but, for sure, I can promise doing my very best in every rally. I’m not going to give up a single bit.

Of course, the start of the season will be some kind of confidence building period, too. All the rallies outside of Finland are new places for me. I have to learn all the rallies and I have to learn to rely on the notes. It’s very important for me to have Kaj Lindstrom as my co-driver. We get along fine and he is the best possible guy to work with. Without Kaj I probably would not have started this huge project at all.

We tested two days in Central Finland everything went well. The car is reliable like a Swiss watch. Obviously, it’s easy to see that the car has been strong and reliable, like it should while the team has won so many races and so many championships.

It’s for sure all the other Formula One drivers would love drive a rally car – at least, to try how it goes. Well, I know already how it feels.

Now we go to Rovaniemi and start making notes on Tuesday. We are looking for the feeling on snow and we test that everything is working well in such a cold conditions. On Thursday we’ll have a shakedown and then the race on Friday and on Saturday.

Q: You start your first season in rallying. Do you discover a different appearance in WRC compared to F1?
KR: "These are totally different disciplines. Here it is -25°C during testing. I had never driven an F1 car at -25°C! In the F1 practice sessions, we loop the same lap all the time. In rally, even if we stay the same stretch of road conditions change with each pass. There are more or less snow."

Q: What do you like in the rally?
KR: "I like everything! This is a new challenge for me. This is the biggest challenge of my racing career. It's very exciting..."

Q: What do you expect from your first test?
KR: "I started in rallying. We'll see where we are located in front of drivers who have several years of experience in the discipline. Initially, the objective will be to complete the course. I must learn the car before I can attack a little more."

Q: In what area do you feel most comfortable?
KR: "I rolled on all surfaces last season. Perhaps the snow as I drove in testing and racing. So I have more experience in this field. But I guess I may have good marks on asphalt. This is the area that I'm most familiar with."

Q: For a beginner in the rally, the system marks an important job demands. Is this something that you've progressed?
KR: "We'll use the same system as last year. It worked very well. With experience, we will continue to improve and we'll see how it works during the first tests."

Q: What are your ambitions at the start of the Arctic Rally?
KR: "It was my first rally last season. This participation is a good workout. I'll be able to travel miles with the car before the first race of the World Championship. It's also nice to ride in Finland."

Q: Kimi, what do you think of the C4 after your first test? How did you feel? He was your very first time ever driving a World Rally Car...
KR: "The car is very good. I’ve immediately found a great feeling and I was very impressed by how it reacts to adjustments. Sure, it's quite different from any other rally car I had driven before! Even if I didn’t know it, I enjoyed, I had fun and learned a lot of things."

Q: All the experts have pointed out that your main problem, apart from that you don’t know the routes, will be learning to listen to the navigator, establishing with him a proper system of writing notes...
KR: "I'm constantly learning about the notes and I'm working hard with Kaj (Lindstrom, the former navigator of Tommi Makinen who’s following Raikkonen in his rally adventure as a shadow). He has a lot of experience and knowledge, and so he is a big help for me. It’s important to have the right notes and I am particularly pleased to have Kaj by my side helping me. He gives me confidence."

Q: What do you expect for the season going to begin with the Rally of Sweden? Do you think you can immediately aim at success or your season will be just to have an experience?
KR: "I'm preparing to face a great challenge for me. I have no experience of world rallying... Of course I always want to win, but in this case, you must be realistic: I have no other goal than doing my best. Let me see where I will be at the end of season!"

Q: After the last year races what do you think of Kimi Raikkonen as a rally driver?
KR: "Better to leave to others the comments on my performances."

Q: Have you got a model to follow among the big rally drivers of yesterday and today?
KR: "No, I haven’t a model to follow. But I have the same respect and consideration for the top rally drivers like that I have for the best drivers in F1."

Q: What kind of opportunities are the participation of Kimi Raikkonen and, even more occasionally, of Valentino Rossi, for rally?
KR: "For this sport they are a good thing. And I'd love to see Valentino racing in the WRC."

Q: The question that everyone would ask: why did you go from F1 to rally?
KR: "I've always been interested in competing in the WRC soon or later, and at some point in my career I was offered this excellent opportunity by the Red Bull. So, why not?"

Q: Is your choice permanent or it may be that one day we’ll see you again in F1? Fernando Alonso said at the Ferrari meeting at Madonna di Campiglio you're a natural talent and it is a shame to see you go away...
KR: "I have not closed the doors to F1. I spent nine years of my life in this sport and I really have some good memories. I will make a decision in the middle of this year. Then I’ll decide whether to stay and compete in the rally or return to F1 Grand Prix."

What happens when a normal family's normal boy proves to be special and gets into the 22 best? Kimi Raikkonen got a F1-seat and a licence but mother and father, Paula and Matti Raikkonen hope that life wold stay as it was. Their wish is fulfilled if they have as much love in the family as they have had uptil now.

The feeling is the same as it usually is after a big moment of happiness. The dream becomes true, the joy is enourmous and yet there is sorrowness in the air: what was is left behind, a lot changes, maybe everything.

It's been a few days since Kimi Raikkonen, 21, came out with the historical news: he got the superlicense to F1 although he hadn't drove one meter in F3.

– We have done our part, Kimi and Steve Robertson will take care of the rest. We only give emotional support now, Matti Raikkonen, Kimi's father says.

– It is painful to let go. It will take a few weeks until we get ourselves psyched into thinking that this really is true.

Kimi's mother Paula Raikkonen continues:

– This came with such a bang. Kimi called Masa's cellphone on August 15th when we were in Tuupovaara where Rami was rallying telling that he will go and test F1 within a month. I thought then that I am going to faint. Fortunately Masa caught me when my feet just went under, really.

– I prepared her and told her to sit down, that I have an incredible thing to tell, Matti tells.

– Fortunately we have this older son Rami, who is one year and 10 months older than Kimi and how drives rally. I have enough to do with Rami, Masa says and grins somewhat sadly.

He is a big, stable, bearlike 46-year old man. Paula, 47, is smaller, blond, fast and clear in her talks, more temperamentic.

IT TOOK TIME, MONEY AND STRENGHT

Here we have a fresh Finnish heroic story where sisu, toughness, trial and companionship is combined. This story has four heros, Kimi, Masa, Paula and Rami.

– Everything happened like in secret. I mean we started this only so we could give the boys a good and a healthy hobby. And then the hobby has grown into bigger and bigger circles, father Raikkonen explains.

Matti Raikkonen is a machineman who is a mechanic with skillful fingers. Paula is a secretary, a woman of action.

– All hobbies are good but driving is tricky because the small boys don't get with their machinery from track to track. If a boy plays ice-hockey you can take turns with other parents, in this hobby it doesn't work. We travelled with these two sometimes even 17 races in one summer and when the distances are what they are it doesn't mean from Friday evening to Sunday, it often means from Wednesday to Sunday, Matti tells.

– When the boys started to drive national races - Kimi was eight - we had to get a van and a trailor so that we could get to the races, Paula continues.

– It took all the time, money and strenght, she calmly says.

Matti worked two or three jobs, drove taxi and was a doorman. Sometimes they had to decide whether to continue the boy's driving business or make an indoor toilet. They didn't and the boys got to continue.

–Once we came all the way from Belgium to Finland with only a Shell credit card. Fortunately the family stuck together! Matti tells.

– Sometimes we had moments of doubts but aren't bad times meant to be won, she challenges.

– We never had the feeling that we should quit. Sometimes we just realised that we don't have enough money. We cried in the telephone to one way and another so that we could continue, Paula talks.

– The family has all the time been very closely together, we have shared both the joy and the sorrow. Because of course there has been sorrow and disappointments too. Winning is a rare treat, Matti defines.

The family's inside joke is what Kimi said when they were going home through Italy that 'I will get you a castle from here one day'.

– It came so sincerely from Kimi. And when we came from another race that went bad, Kimi pointed at a castle that was in really bad shape that 'I'll buy you a castle like that mom, I don't have enough money to buy another one', Matti laughs.

There are wild rumours about Kimi's salary at Sauber but it's clear that it's seven- or eight-numbered figures and you could even build a toilet of marble with golden handles with that money.

– We don't have to support Kimi anymore. In that way things got easier about a year ago. Kimi is living on his own earnings and we have definitely noticed that! Raikkonen's say.

– I don't want life to change, I want it to stay as it was before, Matti says.

– This has been Kimi's dream but it was never our dream. We have just lived and helped him the best we could to get forward. In this genre the hunger gets bigger and bigger when you realise that you have talent, you have to take it to the end and see where it takes you, Paula says.

– Many can say that I live through my children. It's not true. We just got a hobby that combined the whole family and it started growing bigger, Matti says.

They both thank their employers who have been flexible and understanding.

– That has been essential to the whole business, it wouldn't have worked out if we couldn't hold our vacations in parts, they say.

BROTHERS ARE LIKE NIGHT AND DAY

So what is this Kimi Raikkonen like - according to his parents?

– He is gutsy and terribly stubborn but also very sensitive, mother says.

– It think that Kimi has grown all the time along with his career. Of course he has taken *** No swearing *** big steps during the last days but I have never been worried about the boy's head, father says.

– Kimi isn't more mature than others his age. When he has time his friends come over and they go to sauna according to the long schedule and go to a disco after that. He has a girlfriend and things like that, he is an ordinary boy, mother says.

The girlfriend is cute and wonderful but she doesn't want to be in the spotlight.

– Kimi has lived in Holland and England, of course that helps to grow up and become independent, father thinks.

– The brothers are like night and day. Rampe was something like seven when we said that he is the smartest person in our family. Rami always thinks first before acting, Kimi is the complete opposite, does first and figures out afterwards what he went and did, father laughs.

Mother calls the firstborn a diplomat.

– Rami started driving a motorbike when he was 3,5 years old. You couldn't give Kimi one until he was 5. Kimi's nature is of the kind that you go always flat out, Matti describes.

– They drove karting together. Rami was softer, you can see his goodness best when you drive against time or against your own best performance. He is much more softer than Kimi as a driver. You have to be more aggressive and rude on the track. It was clear ever since they were small that they both drive in their own style. They didn't want to learn from each other - not even if we tried. They both thought that the other one had no hands - therefore you can't learn anything from him, father tells.

He regrets a little of his scetching and says that you can't compare your two boys, both are equally dear.

But you can read between the lines that Rami is better off in rally where he can drive alone, Kimi again is better on a track where he can squeeze in, ambush, overtake, go flat out, put others in line without endangering anyone.

– The boys were always together ever since they were small. I almost cried when I looked at albums and saw that in every picture there was two boys. The other one was alone in only a few pictures, they were always together and did everything together, Paula says.

– Of course they had fights, you polish one another through them. But the relationship and the foundation is there even though they wouldn't see each other that often, she continues.

MANY TAKES PART IN A LOTTERY, ONLY ONE WINS

They talk about an eye for the game. Should you also talk about an eye for driving, a natural ability to find the best driving line and realise what braking causes in different situations?

– Absolutely. Everybody develop if they repeat enough but I also believe that there is talent. Someone can learn to reach a certain level and some other can already be there when he starts and continue somewhere else where the other one never will reach, Masa describes.

Kimi Raikkonen is a driver talent, everybody has agreed upon that, even those who have been doubtful about his quick progress to F1.

Fysiotherapist Jukka Viitasaari who has tuned the slim Kimi during last months into a young man who is more tougher than an arrow goes totally reckless. Viitasaari has worked a lot with drivers but he compares Kimi to Mozart, a genious in his own profession who can play any instrument: cello, violin, piano - everything goes and everything plays.

Without even coughing Kimi jumped from a 185-horsepowered Formula Renault into an 800-horsepowered F1-car.

– Kimi has always stood out somehow and he has been picked and taken forward because of his driving skills and showings, we really didn't have the money and we haven't bought Kimi one single seat, Paula Raikkonen says realistically.

It was a surprise for those in the Sauber-team how efficiently and analytically Kimi is able to tell what kind of setups he wants to the car and why.

– Ever since Kimi learned to walk he has fumbled with all kinds of gadgets. I don't think that anybody can make a fast car for anyone. Everybody wants a bit different setups and you have to be able to tell what it feels like and what might cause it, Matti explains.

Kimi was in technical school's car-department for 1,5 year until he had to leave school for other engagements. Many of his class mates didn't even know what the guy was doing - which tells a lot about the young man's character.

Concentration and self-confidence are in the right place in Kimi. He often says: you should not bow in front of pictures, "we all eat the same oatmeal".

Eddie Irvine wished Kimi welcome as his colleague, Ralf Schumacher again gave doubtful statements.

Kimi thinks that everybody can think what they want, it isn't his business.

Matti says diplomatically like this:

– Very few gets into F1, someone's success is alway taken away from someone else. Kimi has taken someone's job who has been driving for a long time and dreamt of the same thing.

Tens of thousaunds wishful boys race all over the world in different races and they all have the same dream burning in their veins: The Royal Class. 22 gets in there.

– Many take part in lotteries and somebody always wins it, Matti says.

Are you scared?

– Everything is always possible. Anything can happen in normal traffic. In Europe we are more afraid of the journeys there than we are of the tracks, Raikkonen's answer.

Paula tells that the bigger classes that look so daring when watching from the television always made her think with pleasure that fortunately our boys never get that far but when getting there they have proved to be okay. The boy has learned and matured during the journey. But as a mother she can't watch the races, it's too exciting.

– Sometimes we have said when dreaming that if Kimi ever gets to F1 we will go to the first race! It's just a shame that it's so far away in Melbourne! Paula sighs - so far they have seen only one GP.

YOU CAN ALWAYS COME HOME

Many families have somekind of advice they say to their kids when they walk out the door. Behave, drive carefully, remember to call.

– Our boys haven't had time to circulate in any gangs but I always tell them when they are going somewhere that 'keep your sense in your hand'. If someone jumps into a well then we don't have to jump after. Think before you do something, Paula says.

– And you can always come home. No matter what happens you can always come home, the door is open, Kimi's father continues.

Kimi comes from F1-Racing -magazine's photoshooting, the Swiss filming teams is buzzing around him - they are making a portrait of Kimi to a German channel's sport news.

Kimi is quiet, careful, a man of few words. He grins if the other one really makes an effort to entertain him - his dad says that he has always strived to pull tricks and fool his boys so that they wouldn't become too serious.

The hero gets to come home for Christmas from Barcelona's testing. He has already got his parents christmas-presents - although he already gave the best around the Independence Day.

When the news about Kimi's F1-seat spread, Matti Raikkonen's 4 cellphones got swamped with congratulations. Even Mika Salo's father called to congratulate. Someone brought a beautiful rosebush and two bottles of champagne to their yard, otherwise life has gone on like before.

But it's just calm before the tornado.

Father gives his son a Sisu (Sisu is a pastill and also something like Mojo).