Massa warns Kimi for battle
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-10-25 13:48 Felipe Massa, winner of last
weekend's Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix, has warned Kimi Raikkonen to expect
a battle for the No.1 driver's spot at Ferrari next season.
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula
da Silva (L) poses with Ferrari's Formula One driver Felipe Massa of
Brazil during a ceremony in which he presented Massa with a medal for
sports merit, in recognition of his victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix
last Sunday, at the Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo October 24, 2006.
[Reuters] |
Finn Raikkonen will replace seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who
retired at the weekend after finishing second to Renault's Fernando Alonso in
the drivers' championship.
"Up until now I have helped my team by filling the holes, but things have
changed," the 25-year-old Massa told Gazzetta dello Sport.
"Next year I don't think I will be obliged to let Kimi pass in front of me.
"He is a great driver, but he is joining a new team and it will be up to him
to win them over. It will be a great battle, but a fair one."
Massa's victory in his home city of Sao Paolo on Sunday- the first by a
Brazilian in his own Grand Prix since the late Ayrton Senna in 1993 - was his
second career triumph after winning the Turkey Grand Prix earlier this season.
Raikkonen was runner-up in the drivers' championship in 2003 and 2005, but
the 2006 season was a disappointing one for him and his McLaren Mercedes-Benz
team.
He finished fifth in the drivers' championship while McLaren was third in the
constructors' championship.
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