The Swedish Rally was my first world championship rally with WRC car. Well, we finished the rally in one piece. It was the target and it was the most positive thing to achieve from the weekend.

Obviously, I made a couple of silly mistakes that I could have lived without. We paid heavily for those and it badly hurt our result.

The Swedish Rally is a very demanding race. The roads are covered with snowy ice. If you come out of the ruts, there is soft snow and you spin easily. Then you get snow all over the car, cannot see anything – and so you hit the snow bank.

That’s what happened to us. We went there with walking speed, but stuck on the soft snow bank. Then I had to take the spade and start digging the car out of the snow.

Well, that’s one thing you have to experience in a rally. It’s normal and I know that those who now are the leaders, have had their share of shovelling, too. I guess, not even Sibelius started by composing the Finlandia first.

All in all the Swedish Rally offered us a very interesting weekend. Okay, perhaps we had some expectations and, for sure, the pressure was there, while we started the rally. It was difficult, but it feels good that it’s done now.

Every single mile I’ll get under my belt with this car is very important for me now. The more I’ll find the good feeling with the car, the better it goes. Even now from time to time I started to feel better and I got along with the car better and better.

While we do the stages for the second time, obviously, it helps and makes it a little bit easier.

After our “hiccups” in the beginning, we decided not to seek some better set-ups. We went to Sebastien Loeb’s set-up and started to learn to drive the car with it. I just focused on baseline driving and keeping the car on the road.

After getting used to how the car handled, it was easier – although the circumstances were changing all the time. At least, next time I know the car better and then we can ask more from the car, too.

It felt good to have some good times. For sure, I experienced once more how important it is to get the pace notes exactly right. When the note is ok, it’s so much easier to go fast. There were some places, my notes were wrong – and there we suffered the most.

I said already before going to Sweden, this rally on snow will be a very difficult race to start the season. Obviously, I have not done a single metre with this car on gravel or on asphalt, but I bet it’s not going to be more difficult, at the very least.

Now we focus on the next rally. It’s Mexico and it’s the first rally on gravel. We’ll have one day of testing with the car in France. Then it’s Viva la Mexico and it will thrilling to see my co-driver Kaj Lindstrom with a sombrero on.

At the end of last weekend's Rally Sweden, RallyBuzz caught up with Kimi Raikkonen to ask him about this year's WRC events and what his expectations are for the rest of the season.

The former F1 World Champion had a shaky start to his 2010 championship campaign after getting stuck in several snow banks over the course of Rally Sweden. His stage times improved as the event progressed and he eventually brought the Red Bull-backed Citroen C4 WRC home in 30th place.

The 31-year-old Finnish driver is part of the Citroën Junior World Rally Team for the 2010 season and is co-driven by Kaj Lindstrom, the man who used to partner multiple rally champion Tommi Makinen.

RB: There are many differences between Formula 1 and rallying. What will you miss about Grand Prix racing, and what do you feel is the best thing about rallying?
KR: “For the time being I am still getting used to rally, so it is very difficult to compare. Obviously the speed in rally is not the same as the Formula 1 car but the best thing about rally is that there are so many different surfaces and you have to try to be quick on all of them. On a race circuit you only have a few different corners but on a rally you have hundreds. I am really looking forward to that a lot; it is a big challenge for me.”

RB: You’re joining Sebastien Loeb driving a similar Citroen C4, one of the most competitive cars in the WRC. What are your expectations for the season?
KR: “I don’t have any particular expectations or pressures. I just want to learn as much as possible, do my best and try to fight with the other guys. Obviously this won’t come straight away, but in time I’m sure we can do it.”

RB: Drivers are often needed to make running repairs and alterations to their cars during an event. What training have you done to prepare?
KR: “Yes this is something that is new to me and it’s still something where I have a lot to learn. I have done some training with the engineers and mechanics to know some basic things. Luckily my co-driver Kaj Lindstrom is very experienced so I am sure that this is an area where he can help me as well.”

RB: With the WRC season taking in 13 events in 2010, which rallies are you most looking forward to?
KR: “Like I said before, what I like about rallying is the fact that there is a very wide variety of events, so there is not one special one I am looking forward to most – although it will be nice to do Finland as it is at home and a rally I have done before. What I will like most is the variety of different rallies. The snow is Sweden was very specialised though; I think when we get on gravel it will be a bit easier as the surfaces will be more consistent.”

Kimi is optimistic about the next event in the championship, Rally Mexico, which starts on March 4th and will of course be on gravel, a surface he feels may be easier for him to adjust to.

It will be fascinating to see how the 2007 F1 World Champion adapts to his new discipline throughout the 2010 WRC season.

Kimi is excited by his new career. Will he ever come back to F1? As we all get pumped up about F1 testing and this year’s stellar line-up in the top few teams, let’s spare a thought for the World Champion who got away – Kimi Raikkonen.

Squeezed out of Ferrari, admittedly with a nice parting gift in his bank account, Kimi preferred the jump into the world of rallying to any possible alternatives in F1. His fulltime WRC career gets under way in Sweden today.

I spoke to him about the transition a few weeks ago, and you may have read the resulting feature in Autosport. He had no reason to make himself available during his winter break – there was no team or sponsor telling him to do so – but purely as a favour he found the time to call me back, and later even sent an email asking to see the story. And no, he didn’t request any changes!

I’ve been lucky enough to spend a bit of time with Kimi away from the track, and I would always argue that contrary to popular belief, he is one of the most interesting drivers you could meet. He is great fun to be with, and is also a decent human being. Many of his rivals, at least those who occasionally hang out with him, would agree with me. Just ask Pedro de la Rosa, his former McLaren team mate. You couldn’t meet two drivers with such different public personas, and yet Pedro regards Kimi as one his closest pals in the sport.

I didn’t have space to include everything Kimi said in that Autosport interview, but with the WRC about to kick off it seemed like a good time to return to the recording and scoop up the best outtakes for your consumption. One thing he has certainly done right is get himself the best possible equipment in the form of the Citroen, which is a huge step up from the Abarth he played around with last year.

“The only option for me was in rallies, and I wanted to have at least a competitive car,” he told me. “The Fiat was definitely not a good car, everybody knows it, so if I go there I want to have a good team and good car. So at least I give myself a chance if I learn quickly and get it right I have a good car and team behind me.”

There’s no doubt that he’s deadly serious about getting decent results, and podium finishes are his target. “That’s why I want to have a good car, because in the end I want to do my best and try to get as high up as I can. I have no interest to go there and just drive around, it’s definitely to try to get good results.”

When I asked what type of surface he expected to do better on, he had no doubts about where he would feel most at home.

“I would say the tarmac should be the easiest one, I did a little bit with my Fiat on asphalt. For sure you can read the road more easily just because you’ve done so much on tarmac in F1, it gives you a better feeling. Snow is the most difficult thing. I’ve done most of my rallying in the snow, but it’s still the most challenging thing.

“You’re doing some places 200 between the trees and for sure it’s different than F1, but that’s part of the whole sport. You can get hurt, so you’d better stay on the road!

“I need a lot of time in the car, and on rallies. Like I said it’s the most difficult thing I have done in my career so far, the biggest challenge. But I enjoy it and it’s good fun, it’s a new thing.”

This year of course he’ll be watching F1 from afar. Having given up the chance to drive the McLaren, he’ll certainly keep an eye on how Jenson Button, the man who eventually took the seat, will perform: “For sure it’s interesting. I’m pretty sure that Lewis will beat him.”

He saved his best answer for when I asked whether he was concerned about being forgotten by F1. “I don’t really stress much about those things.”

Kimi, I think we’d figured that one out…