Fernando: 'Kimi has been lucky'
Friday October 07 2005
Fernando Alonso has insisted that Kimi Raikkonen has been lucky this season – despite the McLaren driver suffering four engine failures and a series of technical gremlins.
Speaking after Kimi's engine blew – yet again – in Friday practice for the Japanese GP, the Spaniard dismissed claims that he had been lucky to win this year due to his closest rival's repeated mishaps. Instead, Fernando reckons that it’s the Finn who has enjoyed good fortune.
Asked about Kimi's latest engine failure, Fernando replied: "McLaren have been very lucky again.
"A few laps more in Brazil and they break the engine there and we have more points. But they can change now and it will be difficult for us to beat them in the race even if they start 11th.
"I have been saying this all year, but nobody believed me when I said that Kimi has been lucky. I know that it sounds strange but, of the four or five engine problems he has had, they have always been very close to the race.
"It's always been last lap on Saturday morning or first laps on Friday. If they had happened during the race before or on the Sunday then he would have had 30 or 40 points less and this would have been a big help for me for the drivers' title and for sure for Renault in the constructors'."
Kimi has typically delivered a storming drive through the field whenever he has endured a ten-grid slot penalty for an engine failure this season, and Fernando is predicting a repeat this Sunday.
"He can easily finish on the podium so this will not help us too much. Maybe on Sunday they will have more problems."
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