Comments on: Crikeynen! Kimi wins again at last

By: Duncan Stephen

Duncan Stephen — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:53:43 +0000

Almost missed your second comment jimbo. I also feel that it is notable that Kimi’s performances have improved greatly while Massa has been out of action. He is definitely a complex character who needs a certain kind of treatment. I do sense that Ferrari have struggled to get a real handle on him.

By: Duncan Stephen

Duncan Stephen — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:50:52 +0000

Many thanks for the comment jimbo — interesting thoughts on Kimi. I think you’re right in the last paragraph when you talk about Kimi’s laid back style not sitting well with the “passion” of the Ferrari brand. I understand that the tifosi never took to Kimi much, and it is probably for his apparent lack of passion. It was the same for Schumacher at first too, but he grew into the role well. However you don’t see Kimi being so willing to adapt, excellent driver though he is.

By: jimbo

jimbo — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:49:51 +0000

ps you feel the presence of Massa at Ferrari unfortunately cramps Kimi’s style. He is talking and driving like someone with a new sense of freedom now Massa is not there, though of course being Kimi, he has never and will never have a bad word to say about Felipe. The team does not appear to realise that even Kimi (despite the laidback appearance) likes to be the obvious focus of attention and it is helping him to be receiving this now Felipe is not there. If the team realised he is not simply the Iceman, who ‘lives on another planet’ (Domenicali), but a driver who, like all others, benefits from feeling like the focus of attention, they might give him a bit more of that even when Felipe is there (rather than this focus tending to go to Massa, you feel) and so benefit from seeing Kimi do better overall, throughout the year.

By: jimbo

jimbo — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:44:23 +0000

fantastic to see a ‘true Kimi’ performance – blasting out for the win from the first moment of the race to the last, like we saw so much of in his days at Mclaren.

Interesting fact, though: 2008 was supposed to be a bad year for Raikkonen. Indeed it was the only year he has definitely been ‘outshone’ by a team-mate. But consider these statistics for the season: only 6 of the races (of 15) involved finishing outside a points place, and 2 of these were DNFs, so that’s only 4 races of the total of 15 where he didn’t finish in the points. And of the 9 races he was in the points, for about 6 he was on the podium. He actually did not badly all-round, it is just that he happened to be outperformed by Massa having a stellar season. We all saw the camera footage of races where Kimi apparently was not trying and not doing so well, down the field: but the stats for the season say he was doing a bit than that.

If 2009 is going to be a year where, overall, he comes good (like 2007 after a slow-ish start) then this is 2 of his 3 years at Ferrari where he has definitely shown his championship-winning side. Not bad for a man who commentators consistently try to slur when they talk about him, ever since he went to Ferrari – where ultimately, Kimi’s ultra-laid back style just sits uneasily with the Ferrari marque’s demand for ‘obvious passion’. It is his apparent laid-backness that is the cause of getting more criticism than he quite deserves (although he may deserve a bit for not being absolutely stellar in 2008 and allowing himself to be outshone).