
The season didn’t go as originally planned, actually, to be honest, it was a real failure given the premises of last winter. Believing to be competitive only to discover themselves to be fragile and behind compared to the other teams already at the first Gran Prix was a real delusion at Ferrari, and the frantic searches for improvements to the car was to no avail. Luca Montezemolo, the Ferrari president, admits it without too many words
"I have to give a five to our season, that turns into a six for the effort and the victory at Silverstone exactly sixty years after Ferrari’s first Formula 1 success. But the season started badly, we failed to interpret the regulations properly and we didn’t dare in terms of design technology. We were committed until the last race last year to win the World Championship and if we had succeeded perhaps this season would have been different. For 2012 I have great confidence in our men and there seems to be a clarity of regulations. I am convinced that we will have a very competitive car. From 1997, excluding this year and 2009, we have always been at the top of Formula 1. The goal is to win, it cannot always be done but you cannot forget what you have done over the years".
The duo Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa are confirmed, with the Brazilian under investigation after the last two seasons not at his best.
"We have a contract until the 2016 with Fernando, who in racing remains the best driver in the world. With Massa the contract is valid for the whole of next season, he has been with us for many years and even if he has not had a positive and lucky season we cannot question a driver who not even three years ago was winning the World Championship and who has always been fast and competitive. Let’s hope that the season finishes with satisfaction in Brazil, from him we expect a big 2012 and then we will consider what to do. Let’s say he will play for reconfirmation next season".
For the Ferrari president, is it also time to take stock as this is his 20th year at the top of the Maranello factory.
"The thing that made me happiest was when I received the offer to be minister from President Berlusconi in 2002, the next day a letter arrived signed by a thousand people from Ferrari telling me that they would be very upset if I left the company. It was something that gave me enormous pleasure".
The most beautiful sporting memory is the the conquest of the first world title in 2000 with Schumacher at Suzuka after so many years of waiting, while on an industrial level the successes that all our cars have had and having increase the turnover tenfold without acquisitions, going from about 20 markets at the beginning of 1990s, to 58 today. But there is no lack of bad memories, such as having lost so many titles at the last race: in 2008 with Massa in Brazil, where he had crossed the finish line as World Champion, last year when a fourth place by Alonso would have been enough and they would have won, in 1998 at Suzuka, where Schumacher did not start, and again in 1997, when 20 laps from the end they were in the lead and then there was the accident between Schumacher and Villenueve.
"Big bitterness that could instead have increased our already extraordinary number of victories".
And speaking of Schumacher, the German’s return to the track has been disappointing
"The last two seasons have not been like a driver who represents modern motor racing. He made this choice to come back, I think that he was not lucky enough to have a very competitive car and I am sorry, even for me, to see a champion like him not even making the podium. I wish to close this second phase of his sporting life with every success".

Felipe Massa is well aware that 2012 could shape his future at Ferrari: statements from Luca Montezemolo put the Brazilian in a delicate position.
"I know very well that next year will be a fundamental year for me. I will have to do better and return to normal, that is, return to winning and fighting for the championship. I have always believed in my work and my potential. I know that things will change and that will happen in 2012”.
The last Grand Prix of the season will be Felipe Massa's home race.
"After such a difficult year there is no better thing than racing at Interlagos. It will be nice to race feeling the support of the torcida, on the track where I started racing and where I always gave my best. Here I have won twice and on three occasions I have started on pole position: it will give me the motivation I need to have the strength I am looking for".
The Brazilian wants to give himself joy after a complicated year.
"I am determined to do the best result of the season, I want to finish it as well as I can. There have been races where I could have finished in the top three but circumstances have always happened that prevented me from doing so. But that's how the season went and you have to accept that. Now I am totally focused on doing the best possible job for 2012. The team is doing the same because it will be crucial to have a competitive car right away and I am part of this preparation work".
Here comes the last Grand Prix of a season already written and commented on. And so it is fateful that the eve of the Brazilian Grand Prix at the Interlagos track is conditioned and marked by looking long, at the medium and long term future.
"I came second last year and nobody remembers that and I don't want to remember it in ten or twenty years' time".
Fernando Alonso said in a press conference, admitting that, actually, the fight for the runner-up title does not mean that much to him.
"So if I finish second, third or fourth this time, that will not remain in my mind for the future. It is not a big priority, but we will try to have a good race. Maybe there is a chance of rain on Sunday, which means we might not get the usual result with Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari always in the top five or six places. If that happens and we have a good race, maybe I can pick up some points on Jenson, but it can also happen that I lose points to Webber by finishing fourth. It's not that important for us, but it probably gives me some confidence for the future to see myself in front of drivers with better cars than us".
Asked to review the season as a whole, as always Fernando chooses to emphasise the positive aspects.
"Overall I remember it as a year that was not bad from a personal point of view and for how the team approached this season, with improvement in areas where we were lacking last year. The team has been stronger and I feel that with a competitive car next year we can be very competitive and in contention for the world championship. Last year, our start and strategies were not so good, we had a conservative approach to racing and we improved in all those areas this year. Now, we all need the car to improve".

But Alonso is not giving up hope, he never did.
"It will be very difficult to win on Sunday, but we will fight for it, because our team is made up of professional and competitive people. When I close the visor on Sunday, me and the team will aim for victory if it is possible".
When asked what he would like to see on next year's car, the Ferrari driver outlines the strong and weak points of this year's Ferrari 150º Italia.
"This year we have been competitive as far as the mechanics of the car are concerned and there is not much difference between the various team engines and the tyres are the same for everyone. So the key point is aerodynamics and getting the tyres to work at their best from the first lap, with more aggression and a less conservative approach during the year. Why am I confident that I can fight for the championship next year? Because I am at Ferrari".
Felipe Massa continued, saying:
"For all of us, this race is like a race within a race, because racing at home is really important. I have had two wins here, so my hope is to have another good weekend. Then, from Sunday onwards, it will be time to focus 100 percent on next year".
The Brazilian driver reveals that he is relying on the crowd of fans to support him during this weekend:
"We don't have anything new on the car compared to the last races, although we will try the front wing again and I hope it will work well this weekend, without the vibration problem I have already suffered. But I feel some extra energy from the people here and I hope I can aim for the podium, because on Sunday I really want to get my best result of this championship. Interlagos is very special for me, as it was here that I started my career over the wall, as we used to call it, the kart track, and, as a boy, I used to come to watch Ayrton and Nelson's races".
On Friday 25 November 2011, in the first free practice session of the Brazilian Grand Prix, Mark Webber set the fastest time. The Australian driver beats the McLarens of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton by a whisker. In fourth place was the other Red Bull of the World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, ahead of the two Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso. Seventh and further back was the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher, with a time of 1'15"162. Then, during the second practice session, it was Lewis Hamilton who set the best time. On the Interlagos circuit, venue of the last race of the season. The English McLaren driver precedes the Red Bull of the World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, and that of Mark Webber. Fernando Alonso's Ferrari follows in fourth place, ahead of Michael Schumacher's Mercedes and the other Ferrari of home driver Felipe Massa. Only seventh was the other McLaren, that of Jenson Button, with a time of 1'13"787. Thirteen months without a podium finish, the last one in Korea, on 24 October 2010. But above all, never such joy in 2011, an entire World Championship without finishing a race in the top three: a disaster, especially when you have a Ferrari in your hands. Felipe Massa has come to the final appeal, right at home, in Brazil, at Interlagos, a track where he has won twice and, in 2008, suffered an excruciating mockery: the title eluded him when he had already crossed the finish line as the winner, he who rejoices, Hamilton who with an overtaking move in extremis on Glock takes home the crown. Massa must finish on the podium at all costs, if he does not want to equal an incredible negative record, a season-long fast that would remind the fans of Ivan Capelli and 1992, the last year in which a Ferrari driver never finished a Grand Prix in the top three. Felipe, in front of his own fans, shows tenacity and promises:

"Winning will be difficult, even though I usually bring out the best in me here, but I want to be on the podium at least at all costs. It is my 100th Grand Prix with Ferrari, a leading race would be the best way to celebrate".
And also to lay the foundations for what will be his decisive year, 2012, the last with his contract secured. Massa is expiring and has no margin for error. Only a complete redemption, albeit with fine words even President Montezemolo has made it clear, could be worth his reconfirmation. The problem is that the current Ferrari does not encourage, and the next one guarantees battle, but it could remain inferior to Red Bull and McLaren. In addition, the disappointing Felipe Massa of 2011 often finishes behind Fernando Alonso, who speaks of podium finishes as his highest aspiration. Massa is at a crossroads and can no longer take a wrong turn. Which neither Hamilton (fastest in the second session) nor Webber are willing to do, while Vettel is aiming for the record of pole positions conquered in a season. Another record he easily conquered on Saturday, 26 November 2011, at the end of qualifying. The German Red Bull driver, already crowned World Champion, laps in 1'11"918. Vettel will start in front for the fifteenth time this season: it is a new record that erases the record of fourteen poles set in 1992 by Nigel Mansell. Alongside the German driver will be his team-mate, the Australian Mark Webber. On the second row will be the McLaren-Mercedes of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. Third row for the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso, fifth ahead of the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. Felipe Massa, in the other Ferrari, will start from seventh position. Adrian Sutil's Force India will start alongside him.
"Sometimes fifth place was hard, sometimes it was easier, today it was quite difficult".
Fernando Alonso judges his position gained in qualifying as follows:
"We were worried about Mercedes, in the end we looked after McLaren more than Mercedes, so we did better than we thought".
For the Spanish driver, aiming for the podium is not utopia.
"It will all be to be seen, tomorrow the forecast gives rain and that makes the GP an unknown. We know how competitive we are in the wet, we remain confident we can have a good race, if we do a good race starting fifth we can aim for the podium".
While Felipe Massa said:
"I was expecting something more, maybe a few more positions. We are seventh, I am not very happy but tomorrow will be a different race with the rain. We will see. It was not easy to find the pace, so that was the most difficult problem for me. Wet set-up? We don't, it doesn't change much so we are more or less OK if it rains, no problem".
Sebastian Vettel has simply doubled the poles. After all, he was on 15 at the start of the season. On the last Saturday of this magical year, the German driver took the 30th pole of his career. The problem is that in doing so he smashed a record that seemed unattainable to everyone, the fourteen times of the legendary Nigel Mansell in 1992, a record carved in stone, which not even phenomena such as Ayrton Senna or Michael Schumacher had dared to approach, a figure that is no longer valid, because now on the throne there is this infallible and irreverent German, 24 years old and still with plenty of asphalt to devour, predestined to become the king of every statistic, especially in the fastest lap, if you think that the long-lived Schumacher stopped at 68 (just 38 poles more, not much if Vettel continues to march at this pace) and the divine Senna, who, on the strength of his irresistible ability at the wheel, conquered 65. Distant figures?

Let us be careful to say so, looking into the eyes of this fierce Vettel, one who, his mechanics tell us, on the lap that counts can always pull out those tenths of a second that make all the difference. For now, Sebastian Vettel simply celebrates this intoxicating record, the Mansell icon demolished, a feat that cannot leave one insensitive. Vettel is emotional, the expression on his face after yet another conquest he cannot hide, and to recount his ecstasy he begins with this anecdote. First he utters the usual belligerent screams, a manifestation of happiness, over the radio. All the mechanics need is the magic word, pole position, and he becomes completely out of control:
"Wonderful, fantastic, superb, an exceptional result".
Then there is the aftermath, and his revelations:
"In the pits, when I'm in trouble, they always tell me: come on, get it over with, get out those two tenths you've hidden, who knows where, if they're in your pocket, put them in the car. I listen to them, I try and usually succeed. I would be ridiculous if I said that fifteen poles in a season is a normal thing, as if I said that this is a year like any other. No, it's an extraordinary moment, the whole of 2011 was like that, I just hope it's not unrepeatable. Hitting a pole isn't easy: in just over a minute, on a single lap, you have to put everything into it and bring out everything the car has, every driver goes to the limit, you can't afford the slightest mistake, in every corner, even on the straights. One slip and it's over, you're behind. Maybe my skill or my luck is just that, not making mistakes or reducing them to a minimum".
Skill he calls it, damn the others think. Every time they are forced to suffer his joy (15 poles out of 19), they have to bow down, as happened yesterday to Webber, second and disappointed for the umpteenth missed opportunity with the same Red Bull, to Button, third and convinced he could win the race, to Hamilton, fourth and in a minor tone after Friday's flashes, not to mention Alonso, who, with his Ferrari, for the ninth time in 2011, closed the qualifying session in fifth position. They are recriminating, while Vettel swears he has no particular secrets behind his exploit, and then points out that his feeling with this Red Bull is exceptional and that he can feel it on the steering wheel, feel it in his hands, if his lap is really perfect, if it is the best he can offer.
"I realise and adjust accordingly".
The exciting record has arrived. There is, however, one, that of shame, to be avoided at all costs. That's what Felipe Massa thinks, never on the podium in 2011, as it hasn't happened to a Ferrari driver since 1992. He starts seventh, it's going to be tough, Alonso comes to the rescue.
"If I was third and he was fourth, I would gladly pass him and give him the podium. I know what it means to race at home, it's always a special occasion".
And, in the event, an invaluable help in fending off the threat of a decidedly bad record. Difficult to erase even for the most benevolent memory. On Sunday 27 November 2011 the expected rain did not fall on the circuit, and the entire race was run on a dry track. At the start Sebastian Vettel held first position, followed by team-mate Mark Webber, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, who passed Lewis Hamilton at the start. The positions at the top of the standings remain unchanged over the first few laps: on lap 10 Michael Schumacher tries to pass Bruno Senna at the first corner, but the two cars touch; the German suffers a puncture that forces him into the pits, while the Brazilian is penalised with a drive-through. On lap 11 Fernando Alonso passed Jenson Button, and moved up to third place with an overtaking move on the outside at Ferradura. Meanwhile, the pits tell Sebastian Vettel that problems with his gearbox appear on the telemetry. Between lap 16 and lap 19 the drivers make their tyre changes.

They all change to soft tyres and the classification does not change, except for Felipe Massa, who has not yet changed tyres and is leading the race. On lap 21 Sebastian Vettel regained the top spot, passing the Brazilian at the Subida do lago. On lap 23 Timo Glock's Virgin-Cosworth loses a tyre at the pit exit. The tyre bounces over the pit lane, grazing the entrance to the track. Then, on lap 30, Sebastian Vettel, again advised by the pits to preserve the gearbox, sees his teammate pass him, Mark Webber. On lap 32 Jenson Button makes a tyre change and mounts a set of Medium, while the other drivers still opt for Soft tyres. Webber maintains first position, followed by Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Felipe Massa (who has not yet changed) and Lewis Hamilton. The Englishman closed in on the Brazilian but was forced to retire on lap 49 due to a gearbox failure. After the third tyre change all the drivers change to Medium tyres and then Jenson Button's McLaren comes close to Fernando Alonso's Ferrari, passing him on lap 62. In the final laps the classification does not change and Mark Webber wins the Brazilian Grand Prix, ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button. The English McLaren driver thus becomes vice World Champion. The driver changes but the car is always the same. Only Red Bull is now winning in F1, even if this time it was Webber who crossed the finish line first, ahead of Vettel and Button. A victory given to him (we don't know if in the true sense of the word) by Red Bull itself, who via radio repeatedly told Vettel to slow down because of huge gearbox problems.That said, Vettel slows down in a blatant manner, leaving the way clear for Webber. Mind you, now that team orders are allowed there would have been no harm in letting Webber win, but such a theatrics is always a bit of a humiliation for a driver. Especially if the driver in question is still someone who goes fast and sets the fastest lap on the very last lap.
"I've had a bit of bad luck during the season, but it's important for the whole team to win a Red Bull one-two".
Red Bull driver Mark Webber said at the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix, which the Australian won ahead of Vettel and Button at the finish line.
"I feel very good, and all weekend I was fine. Today I was going to fight until the end so it's clearly a win I was looking for. I enjoyed the last few laps knowing that the end was near".
The World Champion, Sebastien Vettel, is already looking forward to next season by welcoming today's second place in Brazil behind his teammate.
"It has been an incredible season, I cannot be sad about this result, it was a fantastic double for the team. It's been a phenomenal year, with a strong finish, we're ready for winter, now we'll recharge our batteries, we'll come back just as strong for next season. It was a shame, I started well, I was feeling good, then I had a problem with the gearbox and I had to be careful to use long gears for most of the race. Mark on his part did a great race, he deserved to win and I wouldn't call it bad luck, but I tried to do my best, trying to keep the gap to Fernando first and Jenson later".
And Jenson Button adds:
"It was a difficult race for me, especially in the first part, on soft tyres. Fernando Alonso was good, and after the overtaking move I was struggling to follow him. At that point we decided to mount the hard tyres and it went much better. I found a good rhythm again, passed Alonso and took an important third place. Vettel, on the other hand, despite my good pace, was already too far behind".
With the Brazilian Grand Prix comes the end of a disappointing season for Ferrari, which did not even manage to get on the podium at Interlagos: fourth place for Alonso, fifth place for Massa.

Says Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari's team principal:
"We paid for the lack of pace. It's the end of a non-positive season, now we start again with our heads down, as we have been doing for a couple of months now, with a view to next season".
The snapshot of a disaster, the perfect summary of a troubled season, is mixed with the relief of a World Championship finally over, because Ferrari just couldn't go on like this, with problems that recurred in the same way each time, troubles in qualifying, loss of pace in the race on hard tyres. With Alonso always looking for a miracle, but not always able to achieve it, sometimes having to bow to Button and having a podium place taken away from him in the final laps, a place that he had painstakingly tried to conquer with a sprint start (overtaking Hamilton) and initial forcing (Button passed with skill). And with a Massa who did not even manage to be a protagonist in Brazil, even risking being lapped by the winner and his team-mate. Fortunately that's over, now Ferrari can devote itself solely to the rebirth, without chasing decent results with a car that was born badly. Operation redemption has already begun, with Alonso responding with a conspicuous shrug of the shoulders to those who point out that with his fourth place in the race he has also lost the podium in the championship standings, overtaken in extremis even by Webber, who finished third. Someone, some time ago, had dreamed of at least second place, the Spaniard finished fourth and dismisses the argument by saying:
"I don't care about the final placing. Second, third, fourth, I don't give a damn, less than zero".
Alonso has other ambitions, a completely different Ferrari in 2012.
"A car that is 0.7s faster in qualifying, that can allow me to fight for pole position, that has good pace, and then that is consistent, on hard tyres as well as soft, that doesn't lose performance when we are forced to change the tyre compound".
A Ferrari that struggles, that is at least on the same level as Red Bull and McLaren. Seeing the current gaps, it seems hard to believe it, but instead Alonso is confident.
"Because Ferrari doesn't have to prove anything, its history speaks for itself. In a year that seems like a disaster, we finished ten times on the podium, I scored five more points than last year, when I chased the title until the last race. Just think, I even scored more points than Vettel did in 2010, the problem is that he is the one who has changed gear this season".
Red Bull has accelerated, now it is Ferrari that has to ensure the leap forward. Pure Domenicali, the team principal, is clear about the solutions:
"It is necessary that the data collected by the wind tunnel be confirmed on the track, it was this discordance that sunk us in the World Championship that has just finished. And then we need an immediately winning car. No more chasing, competitive right away".
Pointing out that significant improvements have already been seen in some areas, in track organisation for example.
"Where we have always managed to maximise our efforts, taking the maximum that we could".

Ferrari wants to become great again, Alonso is certain that it will succeed, there is instead more scepticism about the promises of Massa (who yesterday cashed Hamilton's apology with a hug in the pits):
"My worst year, it will never have to happen again. I will write a letter to Father Christmas, I want a strong and fast Ferrari, with this one I didn't manage to get on the podium even once".
He will write, the fans will do it too. New Ferrari. But Massa is different. The year was 1991 when Senna, Ayrton of course, the myth of all Brazilians, not his grandson Bruno, gave life to one of his greatest feats at Interlagos, winning with a broken gearbox, only the sixth gear working, the liberating scream on the radio after the finish line and then the pain when the mechanics pulled him out of the car by force because he was paralysed by cramps. Sebastian Vettel, perhaps with less torment and less poetry, could have imitated him, assuming his gearbox problems were true, but instead he preferred to give way to his team-mate, Mark Webber, more in need of a success than ever, because if you drive a missile like a Red Bull and end a season without even a win, it is difficult to avoid the paddock's giggles of pity. Put it this way, Vettel didn't want to be a hero:
"They told me that I was at risk of breaking down, that if I continued at my pace I would probably retire, that I had to safeguard the car, and that meanwhile they, my mechanics, were shortening the gears to help me. I obeyed".
Getting easily overtaken by Webber and then turning into a faithful squire to give the team its third one-two of the season. It is possible that Vettel chose caution. Or perhaps the truth is another, the fault was not there, it was just a disguised team order. If so, there would be nothing wrong with that. Censurable would only be the hypocrisy of a Red Bull that tenaciously defends the thesis of the gearbox not working. Words that the other teams, starting with Ferrari, like little. Domenicali is more diplomatic:
"If it is true that he was breaking down, kudos to Red Bull, because they have exceptional gearboxes. A few kilometres down and then off they go, like before or even better".
Alonso is more direct:
"The others don't like certain things only when we win".
As if to say, we at Ferrari do it (Hockenheim 2010) blatantly, and the opponents insult us. The others behave in the same way, but they think they are making fun of us. The fact is that Webber was able to pull out his dedication:
"I wanted the win, it's for a friend of mine who is very sick".
And Vettel promised that he will take back this missed victory next year:
"When we want to be even stronger".
That is, better than a team that does what it wants on the track. Including the choice of names on the two highest steps of the podium. Where Kimi Raikkonen, who is returning to Formula 1, could rise. After months of rumours here is finally the official word, with Lotus Renault announcing the signing of the Finnish driver on a two-year contract.

"Recently I have been overwhelmed by the desire for Formula 1. I have been impressed by the team's ambitions and am looking forward to playing an important hand in getting the team to the top of the grid".
Raikkonen will take the place of Robert Kubica, who is unlikely to return to the track next season due to the aftermath of the accident that forced him to miss the entire 2011 World Championship. The most surprising thing is that he spoke of an irresistible passion for F1. Kimi Raikkonen, nicknamed Iceman, has never been a fan of verbal hyperbole, he has always considered interviews a useless waste of time. With words he was never overwhelming, whispers were constant, even when it came to expressing impetus or emotion. It is not surprising, however, that Renault, from next year simply Lotus, orphaned of Kubica, thought of him to relaunch. Because Raikkonen will never be the ideal dinner companion, but on track he has always been damn fast. Eighteen triumphs, 62 times on the podium, 16 poles: numbers that distinguish his first life in F1, noble, but probably less than what his talent could offer, sometimes held back by a certain agonistic indolence or by the lack of the right stimuli, with many Grands Prix intermittently, a phenomenon for a few minutes (36 fast laps in a race, behind only Schumacher and Prost) and anonymous for the rest of the race. Precisely for this reason, beyond the bewilderment of hearing him say:
"I felt overwhelmed by the desire for F1".
It is curious to learn that the Finn, in announcing his return after two years of rallying, says that he has great motivation.
"Which go well with those of my new team, a team that I can't wait to drag to the top of the grid".
If this is indeed the case, Renault, which has tied itself to Raikkonen with a rich two-year contract (the Finn demanded 20.000.000 euros per season, he may have settled for half that), will be less likely to regret Robert Kubica, who in rallying, unlike his replacement, has found the concrete prospect of staying on the sidelines for the whole of 2012. In fact, the impression is that Renault believes little in a return in the short term. It makes it known that it will support the recovery attempts (offering single-seaters for testing and a simulator), but only if the Pole, whose contract expires at the end of 2011, signs a long-term agreement. Otherwise the contingency plan already planned, the Russian Petrov, the Brazilian Senna or the French Grosjean as second driver while waiting for Kubica's return, will become definitive. A champion is back in the pits anyway (Raikkonen will be one of the six rainbow winners away, with Vettel, Schumacher, Alonso and Hamilton).
"And with him we can get back to winning".
Says a beaming Lopez, president of Lotus.
"I would not have agreed to come back without motivation. There will be a lot to say in the future, but nobody really knows what I think. I don't care what people say. I am happy to be back. I never lost my passion for F1, maybe for what surrounds it. But when I did Nascar races this year, I realised that I needed the competition in racing. In rallying you just fight against the clock. I didn't follow F1 much last year. This year a little more, but not one particular team. I watched the last 20 laps of the Brazilian GP and, because I knew what was going to happen, I followed what Lotus Renault was doing".
The two years spent away from the environment according to Raikkonen will not create technical problems for him:

"I have two more years, I don't think other things have changed. The most important change will probably be the tyres. From the point of view of preparation F1 is more physical (than rallies, ed) but over a shorter period of time. In a month's time I will start preparing for F1 again. The neck is the most difficult part to train because of the force of gravity when cornering and braking, but we still have plenty of time".
The hat-trick will be tough. Sebastian Vettel is preparing to fight for the title again in 2012, but he is aware that he will have to contend with McLaren-Mercedes. The Red Bull driver warns:
"We have made very few mistakes this year. Practically, we have been almost infallible. We will have to keep pushing. The rivals will come in and there will be great balance, as happened at times in 2011. I can't wait to race, the tight competition is what everyone wants. The tension, the nervousness on the grid when you are about to start".
Vettel is fully satisfied with the season just ended, in which Red Bull also won the World Constructors' Championship:
"I don't think there have been as many seasons as the last one. We will certainly work hard to try to improve. It will be difficult, because we have made very few mistakes. But you always try to take a step forward".
The German champion has now developed a winning mentality:
"When you start the season, the goal must be victory. Sometimes success comes as a surprise. In the last two years we have achieved a lot and it would be strange to approach the next championship with the intention of simply going for points. Obviously, we want to defend the title. You never set out to achieve less than you did in the previous year: there are things we didn't do 100% right, we can still learn something".
For next season Vettel identifies McLaren as the most formidable opponent:
"The opponents will be stronger, McLaren in particular has been very competitive with Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton already in the final phase of this season. 2012 will not be a walk in the park. But neither was it this year".
Actually, if we look at the final standings of the World Championship that has just ended, it does not look like a close season:
"The gaps were quite wide: we had a phenomenal start but the races were balanced: I don't think our single-seater was dominant".
The differences with 2010:
"We were more competitive as a team. Maybe, in front of the TV, some races appeared boring. But it's never easy to get everything right".
For his part, Fernando Alonso does not despair: the Spaniard feels he can soon win a World Championship with Ferrari:
"The title will come soon, I am in the perfect team to win it. I don't think too much about it, although I could have won more titles, but I think looking back leads nowhere. What matters? The present and the future".