Formula One Features — January 2009

Kimi Raikkonen is not a man who gives away much in his interviews. It is, by all accounts, a calculated decision. His friends will tell you that he is not at all like his public persona. That he is a funny and interesting guy, when he is not in the spotlight. But put him in front of a journalist or in a press conference and he clams up. It is a means of defence.

Felipe Massa came so close last year to winning the Formula 1 World Championship. His victory and defeat in Brazil last year was one of the most extraordinary stories in the history of the sport, and the way Massa handled it defined him not only as a great sportsman, but also as a remarkable human being.

The decision to ban all circuit testing in the Formula 1 season was designed to save the teams money. For the big teams, however, the battle has simply moved from the race tracks to the factories where advanced simulation technology will take over from actual running.