One more year for Kimi?

I like Kimi, but if he keeps regularly being blown by his team mates (Alonso last year and Vettel this year), I wonder if the Scuderia will not loose patience with him.

Vettel winning his second GP at Ferrari has set a benchmark that Kimi has been unable to equal.

 

Well William, if my memory of the 2007 season serves me well, Kimi actually won his FIRST race with Ferrari. So Vettel has not been able to equal this...

I guess the Scuderia is satisfied with him, and furthermore there is no "top-gun" not already under contract for 2016, and we all know what happened to Bianchi, who should have been driving for the Scuderia. In any case, I understand that the option has to be taken by Ferrari before June 30th; so the Scuderia has the initiative, it is up to them.

Rgds

 

To be fair his race pace is more than reasonable compared to Vettel.

At Aus he was bloody fast but the Sauber ruined his day, did a great recovery and was on his way to beat Massa (who finished 4th) until the pitstop they forgot his tire.

Malaysia another tire slice, still finished 4th.

Shanghai no issues, was slightly held up with pitstops and finished right behind Vettel who he was catching at the end of the race before the SC.

Vettel is getting double the money from Ferrari and Kimi is right on his heels. Comparatively, a good performance per buck no?

 

You are right about 2007.

But since his return to the Scuderia, Kimi's results haven't been outstanding, have they?

He may well have shown flashes of his past talent, and his pace may look good at times, but his team mates have given better results overall - so far.

He was more convincing during his first year at Lotus after his come-back. Reports that he has title ambition for this year sound exaggerated to me.

 

I like the ice man. No politics, no bs. The guy is all about business.

 

+1

 

Unless the car is utterly perfect he will not beat Vettel. IF they keep him thats ok of course. IF they release him I wont miss him as I did not miss him the first time.

He is over rated and has not fared well vs other Ferrari drivers. His results vs Grosjean made him look faster than he is. Last year was dreadful.

Notable but by no means is he a legend. He admits his qualifying habit of being slow on 1 lap is his problem. The first time ever he has taken responsibility for his faults as a driver. I was amazed to see this in the press last week.

 

Max Verstappen? With voices of a Red Bull exit he might want to secure a safer place ...

More realistically between Perez (Mexican sponsors already at Ferrari), Bottas or the Hulk. Just please not Grosjean

 

He's blamed himself more than once. Just because you don't hear it doesn't mean this is the first time.

 

Max Verstappen would be pretty awesome. Same for Bottas.

Perez is too unreliable. I was an early supporter of his but he's gone cold in recent years. Too many ups and downs, not consistent. Same goes for Hulk. Both are quick but will not win a title.

 

I consider his best efforts were at McLaren, where he lost one possible title because of reliability, and Renault's superior tyre management. He benefited from infighting at McLaren to lift his title at Ferrari, by the slightest of margin.

Since, Kimi has proven sometimes dreadful in qualifs, although he hasn't been always been well served by his team. Being "bumped off" after Q3 because the team didn't send him out in time to improve his slot, "to save tyres" - (several times, if I recall), completely destroyed his chances of a strong finish and must have affected his morale too.

Added to this, his problems to adapt to a new car. There are flashes of genius, but they are few and far between these days.

Kimi is a likeable guy, slight unconventional, laconic and stratght-talking at the same time. That's why I like him too; but that's not enough to merit a drive. Kimi's performance this year will seal his fate at Ferrari, I think. He has already hinted that he wouldn't look for another drive. Didn't Alonso said that once?

 

+1 lets see Ferrari do something they rarely do. Take a not so experienced driver and groom him in the team for the future. Possibly might have been Bianchi but we will never know.

 

+1. Would be interesting to think of what an early title with Mclaren would have yielded in Kimi later. He was very very close except for that motor etc.

 

I'm quite sure Bianchi was going to go in for 2016.

I think the most likely candidate is Bottas. Vettel to be top dog, collect some titles over the next 5-6 years and I can actually see Vettel retire relatively early. After that insert Verstappen. I don't think inserting a young guy with a point to prove is wise against a 4x (or more) champion, it'll just cause tension.

that said I very much welcome Verstappen into the team for a variety of reasons.

I do hope Kimi sticks with it for another season and can remain as close to Vettel as he is right now and have a few wins before he leaves.

 

This. Though i think Seb is much more of a leader and ultimately will be our guy. I couldn't imagine a better driver pairing than these two at the moment.

Kimi not beat Alonso was to me the team holding him back to appease Alonso.

 

A good car tends to follow Kimi around when he joins a team. I doubt that its pure coincidence. Even if Vettel beats him every Race, I believe the Ferrari will be faster with Kimi in the seat.

 

rmani: "the team holding back Kimi to appease Alonso"? Really? The same Alonso that they canned toward the end of the season? Weren't trying to appease him then, were they? I find your theory to be entertaining but highly implausible.

 

+1

 

that's what I was just thinking.

 

Any more implausible than coercing a young team mate to crash so alonso would get a race win?

 

Look at it this way, his back is already broken so won't feel the pain of being a Ferrari's second driver