ethroned world champion Kimi Raikkonen has confirmed suspicions he struggled with motivation at times during the 2008 season. The Ferrari driver this year began the defence of his drivers' title strongly, winning two of the first four races. But Raikkonen, 29, struggled with subsequent developments of the F2008 car - especially in qualifying, and ultimately finished behind both Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa in the final classification. Reports throughout the season queried Raikkonen's motivation, and he now confirms: "That is the way it is; if you know you are fighting only for third place then you maybe don't have the same speed for the whole race as normal." "If you have no chance to overtake or improve your position, it is definitely not very interesting," he told the Finnish broadcaster MTV3. Raikkonen, however, vowed to be in top form next year, when from the first race he believes he will be back in contention for the crown. "When you are driving for the title, naturally things are completely different," he said. Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni was also quoted by MTV3 as confirming that the season was a difficult one for the Finn. But he insisted: "Even when he was in a bad mood, he always behaved professionally."
When he was with Mclaren he was a third place contender as well. Watcing him battle was a pleasure. The difference was that he was on his way up, Now that he has reached the top I think the consuming desire left. This is what I will be watching for in Hami as well. Got to admit that Alonso, total jerk that he is, still has the "stuff".
Wow. So your a world class racing driver, on perhaps the best team in the world, women are swooning over your constantly, you have an "above average" paycheck, you get to drive the fastest cars in teh world, every Ferrari driver on the planet would gladly "toss you the keys" to their car, and you have trouble staying motivated? Wow. And I thought I had it rough sitting in a Swiss Coffee shop, sipping fine Schokolade, dicussing the finer points of the Black-Litterman model or Multi-factor models. I hope he finds some perspective soon. I know he's young but he's not THAT young.
This confirms the interview I read with him earlier this year where he admitted that getting the WDC was his goal in F1 and now that he has it, there isn't much pleasure left. He also said he does like to drive the perfect lap, which he did with clinching the fastest lap trophy. Unless things go perfectly for him at the start of next season, he might be in for another journeyman year after which he and/or Ferrari calls it quits.
How much is Kimi getting paid again?? As much as I like Kimi this statement questions his professionalism. Even if he was shooting for third, the constructors championship was open and should have been motivated to win this too for his employer. So this means that if the start of next season is not great for him we will not see him fight harder. Maybe putting Alonso or Vettel in a Ferrari is not such a bad idea.
They have Felipe with the drive and determination to win....you know, the things required of a successful driver. I dont think Ferrari can count on Kimi any longer given this article. There is no doubt about Felipe and his drive or his commitment to Scuderia Ferrari. I was a Kimi fan until the last races of this year. Id rather him not be there and the team add someone else alongside Felipe. I would imagine they will favor Felipe fairly early on if Kimi continues his drive from this year into 2009. I know it has been published that Kimi will be given substantial testing this winter. Lets hope it makes a difference with his performance.
Agreed. This is F1--go all out or go home. I hope he's gone soon, WDC in 2009 or otherwise. I'm sick of the "iceman" crap.
The guy's a little out of touch if he thinks he can admit this and use it as a viable excuse. "Hey, I'm pull'n $50 mil. and driving an F-car but since I wasn't winning I was lagging a bit. I'll do better next year though." Said it before but the guy's done unless he did some soul searching. It doesn't look like he has and can't figure out how to get his mojo back. Seems like he's just hanging in for the dough and hoping. If I were F I'd be looking at cutting him loose.
I guess this is the biggest difference between him and Alonso. A lot of people rate Kimi's race pace really high, highest in the field, it may be the case, but Alonso's determination is much higher. Especially since he was in a similar situation to Kimi, already a world champion, wasn't getting the results he wanted, but he kept going and it eventually paid off with two race wins. Still he wants more, and it'll break my heart if Alonso doesn't have a WDC contending car next year.
I don't know much about F1, nor do I know much about a multi-million dollar salary, but I do know that people get bogged down no matter where they are in life or the social hierarchy. Sure, he's got a lot going for him, but he's used to it. It is normal for most people to be discouraged by whatever hinders their progress in any situation, regardless of how 'good' everything else seems to be going. Competition is competition, and when you're clearly out of the runnings it can be difficult to be motivated. Perhaps a little bit of 'devil's advocate' on my part, but just saying. I hope he does well in the future.
Exactly. It's all relative I suppose. He's had a certain lifestyle for a while now, since he was a teenager or in his early 20s. I'm not even sure if he needs to be in F1 to maintain his lifestyle, as he had a pretty healthy pay packet when he was at Maclaren. F1 to him was all about getting that championship and moving on. Maybe after getting his title, he has sort of questioned if he wants more.
Yep, same as with Schumi...put on WDC performances even when there is no WDC on the horizon. The motivation for Alonso is there far more frequently than it isn't.
Then he should call it a day and move on like Schumi did. If you don't have the fire burning in you, make room for some youngster who has it.
....$$$$$ a year in salary, and he 'has trouble with his motivation'...?? Get a life Kimi. If you can't 'motivate' yourself to actually 'earn' your incredible salary, then have the decency to resign and let Ferrari employ a driver who IS motivated. Unbelievable.
Schumi said at some point that Kimi did not ask for help, whereas Massa did. In fact Schumi has been sort of a mentor to Felipe. Maybe Kimi needs to set his pride aside and connect with Schumi, he can pass on a trick or two. I don't know where Massa will be next year in terms of salary but in any case he should be the same as Kimi.
At the risk of posting something really stupid and sounding chauvinistic, let me throw out this question: Could the lack of motivation be a Fin thing? - Rosberg did one WDC and soon thereafter called it quits. - Hakkinen had a sudden burnout and retired mid season after his 2nd title. - Raikkoenen we just talked about - Kovalainen's motivation seemed to jojo all season long OTOH there are the Finnish rally drivers who seem to continue on for years dominating the sport. Maybe F1 with all its politics and glamour isn't what the Finnish sould needs? Comments?
i don't believe this Andreas. i dunno about Rosberg, but if u look at Hakkinen, the main reason he quit was because the birth of his son, and also because Mclaren were giving him crap cars at that point of time. as for HK, it's difficult to say. he might be a normal no2, for all u know, and he's not allowed to race Hammi, etc, etc. i dunno. but Kimi, it's all just plain excuse. he started the season brightly, but just because he started struggling in qualifying, he gives up before the race even starts. if he doesn't perform well next season, i hope he gets the sack. i'm just tired of all this nonsense.
This translation is both erroneous and put into a wrong context. The Finnish MTV3 article conveys a somewhat different message. I'm proficient in Finnish. This post should be removed, IMO. Thank you.
I'll see if 1. I can find the original piece in the MTV3 archives and 2. I'll have time sometimes later today or tomorrow. You need to also understand that many things simply cannot be translated directly from Finnish to English because the languages (and therefore many expressions and verbal images) have NOTHING in common. Translating for example from German or Swedish to English is a piece of cake in comparison.
I speak a few languages and get your point. I wasn't looking for a verbatim translation, but one that captures the essence.
http://www.mtv3.fi/urheilu/f1/uutiset.shtml/arkistot/f1/2008/11/745642 Translation: Räikkönen admits: I didn't give my best (Photo caption: Kimi Räikkönen's F1-season ended in disappoinment when the 2007 world champion was no higher than third in the world championship points.) McLaren's Lewis Hamilton took the world championship in a close contest before Räikkönen's teammate Felipe Massa. Räikkönen will readily admit that it was hard to get motivated for the last races after he could not race all out. Massa fought for the championship all the way to the season ending race. - You know when you're driving for the third place and there's really nothing you can do about it, you just won't drive all out the entire race, Räikkönen admits to MTV3. - Of course, if you're fighting for a particular spot [in a race], you try as long as you can, like I did in the last race (in Brazil). Of course, if you're really not allowed to pass or such, it really doesn't matter, Räikkönen continues. Räikkönen wants to forget the season that ended before long. He is confident of his future and believes that the Italian team will get its F1-car even more competitive for the next season. - Of course it is a completely different story when you are in a position to drive for the championship. I reckon we'll have a strong season next year. We'll try to improve, Räikkönen says. Comment: The essence of this interview is that Räikkönen did not drive as hard as he could have *after* he found himself racing for no higher than third place in the world championship. This is something he has maintained consistently and the extent to which he has addressed any motivational problems attributed to him.
