Kimi's Australian review and Malaysian preview
It's signed, sealed and delivered with the Australian Grand Prix. Right now I'm trying to get grips with the next challenge here in the hot and humid equatorial climate of Malaysia.
Obviously, it was very nice and rewarding to open the season with some good points. Honestly, I didn't know that much what to expect from the first race weekend after two years break.
We got a good feeling in the car since the day one in Jerez, but you never know exactly how competitive the new equipment is compared to other new cars. Well, now we know a little bit, at least.
I always felt I could make a return to Grand Prix racing, but, I can confess now, I got some good answers to my own minor doubts on how quickly you can adapt the racing rhythm after being away for some time.
The speed is there. That's ok. The car is good. That's ok, as well. Some issues were to be improved, especially in the qualifying routine. I knew already before going to Melbourne, that it takes some time to get everything together in the best way with all the new things there are with the tactical and mechanical part of the whole qualifying prosedure.
On Saturday I wasn't happy at all. We had some issues that put us in a very poor situation to start the race. All in all, I got a perfect start from the line and, obviously, it could have been very good for the race. But the first corner mess-up with some cars took my advantage away, I had to back-off and we had to build up again the race to reach the TOP-10.
The first set of tyres didn't feel that good, but then I saw other people having even more problems with them, so I just sat back and went for it. It was quite tricky to get past the cars. The DRS doesn't help that much in Albert Park-like circuit and while I was battling against Saubers, they were too strong coming out of the last corner, where the DRS zones started.
The safety-car situation didn't help, as well. I got a set of brand new tyres, but after the race re-started, it was very difficult to get them working properly. Finally everything went well. We got some places back in the last lap and I was quite satisfield finishing seventh in that first race.
As a team we know, we have a solid and consistent car to work with. It's nice to have a race again this week. Sepang is the place with some nice memories for me, while we won a Malaysian Grand Prix both with McLaren and Ferrari.
The heat is a little bit too much, but it's the same for everybody. I just sit back again, put my head down and try to get the best out of the car and myself, too.
The heat is on!
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