Kimi Raikkonen says he is happy to be away from Ferrari after years of behind-the-scenes politics at the Italian team. Raikkonen left Ferrari to rejoin Sauber, where he started his F1 career, which then became Alfa Romeo Racing.
The 39-year-old was the last driver to win a drivers title with the Scuderia back in 2007 but upon his return to the team, fell into a second driver role and played back-up to Fernando Alonso and then Sebastian Vettel.
Having moved away from the top team to join the promising Alfa Romeo team, Raikkonen said he was happy to be away from the atmosphere which had plagued Ferrari for several years.
"Finally no more politics. I really enjoy driving. Here everything revolves around the sport," he is quoted by Blick.
"The bullshit is gone. That makes it easier for everyone. Usually, the media are usually only interested in negative stories!"
Raikkonen impressed many during the first test in Barcelona ahead of the 2019 season and the Alfa Romeo looks to be one of the standout cars of the midfield.
Although he is unlikely to be fighting for race victories, the Finn may be best of the rest by the time we get to Melbourne if the pace of the new car is accurate.
"We haven't done any qualifying laps, we just ran with different tyres. But I think generally, it's a well-balanced car and it has pretty good grip. Once we start pushing we'll see where we get.
"I guess it can always be better and, anyway, we're not really pushing too much. We're just trying things, but yes, it was fun."
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