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Kimi Raikkonen says his transition from Ferrari to Alfa Romeo was easy, erasing any doubts over the move.
The Finn rejoined Ferrari in 2014, but played second fiddle to Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel in his second stint at the team. The Scuderia outfit took the decision to promote its junior driver Charles Leclerc to the squad, leaving Raikkonen to assess his future.
The 2007 world champion signed a two-year deal with Sauber, which has since been renamed Alfa Romeo. The team enjoyed a strong resurgence in 2018 and looked impressive throughout the first week of winter testing.
"It's a different team but I don't think it's better or worse," Raikkonen said. "We've been working for a while now and everything felt smooth. It's a very normal way [of working].
"When I'm driving I don't feel any different. There's always doubt, changing teams. It could be difficult to go and start getting things how you like, but so far it's been a very easy transition.
"It's a great group of people. It's not as big as my previous team, but they are good people and everything is running nicely."
Raikkonen added that he will be kept busy in his final two days behind the car on week two, as the team works on setups. He is not looking at a target for the season ahead, as he believes it is far too early to judge the pecking order.
"As long as we do the maximum we can all do, then I have no doubt the result will come," he said. "What the end result will be is impossible to say.
"To see how well how they've been working on the car, and what they've produced over the winter, it seems to match well what we expected. Where that takes us, no idea. Nobody knows even, after testing, where everybody is."
It's something I've said before, and it ain't a unique opinion, but I'll say it again: moving from Ferrari to a smaller team was probably the best thing that could happen to Kimi. Down there he'll be prioritized. Down there his competence will be respected and appreciated. Down there he'll get the racing and challenges he most likely want and need to shine again. Which kinda sucks, but this will probably benefit both him and Sauber.
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calle.itw
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It's something I've said before, and it ain't a unique opinion, but I'll say it again: moving from Ferrari to a smaller team was probably the best thing that could happen to Kimi. Down there he'll be prioritized. Down there his competence will be respected and appreciated. Down there he'll get th... [Read more]