I will miss Kimi, i just hope he does go to Mclaren and Kicks ass!!! He's too good for just 1 WDC. Goodbye Kimi and Thank You for your services.
my favorite kimi moment was last season when he won the dc. i was watching the race in a bar in san francisco and after the surprise of him winning, the finnish anthem played in the podium ceremony and a group of fans started to sing along.
Kimi's biggest sin was being a stoic reserved person in a flamboyant enviornment. If he'd thrown tantrums and accused others of conspiring against him he'd still have a job.
During his time at Mclaren I ranked him my favorite driver because of his attitude and determination. I was excited to see him go to Ferrari. IMO when he got to Ferrari he started to rest on his laurels. "Let the other guys do the work". IMO he did not "Win" the WDC. Hami lost it. And without Massa allowing a pass (an obvious team order that if any other team would have pulled it would have been penalised) dear KR would be another could-have-been. The biggest sin is wasted natural talent.
Keeping Massa and buying out Raikkonen's massive contract simply makes no sense in my mind. And then to replace him with a cancer (a fast cancer, but a cancer nonetheless), makes me wonder if the tail (sponsor) is wagging the dog (team).
I doubt any sponsor would have that sort of power over Ferrari to be honest. Look at Philip Morris Tobacco for example. They have admitted that even if they couldn't have their name anywhere near Ferrari's, not just on the car/clothing etc, but not even in the team name, they would still spend the same money as they do now just to be associated with Ferrari. Thats the power that Ferrari have. At the end of the day they need another Schuey. Someone who is not only fast in a good car but is also adaptable for when the cars not perfect and can make it go fast. This has been highlighted with the efforts Ferrari gone to to try and get Schuey back in the car, they miss his input. They've tried Kimi and he's not the man for the job. When the cars not right or doesn't suit him, he can't find a way around it so switches off for the day. Wether people like it or not on this forum, alonso is still rated as the best all round driver in F1 at the moment and so was an obvious choice for Ferrari, to try to regain some of what they had with Schuey. Look at Alonso when he was battling Kobayashi for position, on his in lap!. As Martin Brundle said, that's what you have to love about Alonso, be it first, fifth, tenth, whatever, he'll battle to gain a position. As for keeping Massa, he fits in better with the team than Kimi did and is more consistant and adaptable. I may be proved wrong but I think Ferrari have made the right choice.
I must beg to differ. If this year has shown us anything its that Kimi can take an under performing car and win with it.
You make an interesting point about Hamilton - is anybody saying that Hamilton "lacks motivation", or is "disinterested in the team", or such? I haven't heard much, but neither team was able to do anything much this year. Maybe this is just racing - and the inevitable off-season, especially when the FIA is messing with the rules so radically.
The biggest difference between Lewis and Kimi isn't talent but how they deal with the press. BTW is there any question as to who had the better car over the course of the season?
But he only started to do well with the F60 after Massa's accident and Ferrari made it more suited to his driving style. Even Kimi has admitted this.
While Luca's under performance may or may not be an indication of the car's performance I don't see Fisi going from hero to zero when he switched for any other reason. Motivation certainly wasn't a factor. BTW Why wasn't the car set up to suit the number one driver to begin with?
Because since 2008 Di Montezemolo wants Alonso on the team and wanted Kimi out. Jean Todt was the one who was for Kimi and against Alonso.
Because Ferrari no longer have a designated No1 driver. The car was a compromise for both drivers style of driving and Massa adapted to it alot better than Kimi did. As for luca and Fisi, after Massa's accident, the car was made for Kimi's style of driving and most likely didn't suit either of their styles and they could not adapt to it. Fisi has said that the Force India was a very easy car to set up and adapted to set up changes very easily. With the F60 he said it was a much more complex design which had extreme reactions to even comparitively minor set up changes as well as being very nervous underbraking. This would have ebbed away a bit of Fisi's confidence in the car making him alot slower. Lets not forget, you only have to lose 0.1 second per corner to wind up around 1.5 seconds off the pace over a lap.
I personally believe the best all-around driver out there now IS Kimi.The best of all-time=MS.Not bieng biased,juststating facts.I can elaborate on request but i dont feel there is much need for that.Alonso is just part of this "Latin Connection"(Spaniard Alonso,Brazilian Massa,Spanish Santander,and our beloved Scuderia IS Italy).They are making a mistake by letting him go in the respect of Kimi's talent.But in a situational point of view,the hot-blooded Latin Alonso fits in better.When Kimi came to us,he was pampered and the effort wasnt all there.That is until he got the No1 status after Massa's injury.I know how Kimi was thinking.Melbourne 07, first race with us,wins in fashion and expects himself to cruise to the title ala Schmi 04'.His 100% wasnt there.Its proven by the telemetry.I just want to see the "Iceman".The real one.And let the two best in F1(and ever) fight to the end.
I think the feedback that the engineers get back from Kimi is no where near what they've become used to with Schuey and to a lesser degree, Massa. From what I've read about his time at Ferrari, kimi tends to be a "Give me a fast car and I'll drive it fast. If the cars not fast, just make it fast" type of guy and then leaves the engineers to figure it out. With Kimi I don't think you get any overtime. I think with Alonso he works more with the engineers to find solutions and understands the engineering of the car a bit more (which would explain why he's more adaptable to a car thats not perfect, although not to the same level as Schuey). Alonso will put the overtime in and fight for all the positions he can get (look how he chased and passed Kobayahsi whilst on his in-lap!). As for the statement highlighted, that's going to be a bit difficult because Schuey's retired and Senna's dead!.
AS for the highlighted phrase it was a mistake.Sorry im not perfect.Both are not even top 10 all time.But i believe they can be in the top 20 easily.Prove me wrong.WINK
No team has a designated #1 but all do in fact. Being easily modified as to set-up is a quality that separates a good car from a bad one. The margins between a good car and a bad car in F1 today may be small but they are very real. Close counts in horseshoes and hand grenades but not F1
from pg 49: One man who is possibly better placed to judge than most in Hakkinen. "Kimi is a superb natural talent- and capable of great performances in races that no other driver is capable of doing," believes the fellow Finn. "But you have to be on top of your game, all the time, and be a superb tool for the team. There are areas it would be easy for him to improve, and I don't understand why he doesn't go and do it. I think he understands what he would like to do- he's not the type of guy who says, 'No big deal' if he loses. So the determination is there; but you need the knowledge of how to do it, you need to go deeper and motivate the team and your allies to support you.
Excuse me while I ROFL, but what idiot would design a new chassis mid way through the season that neither driver likes?!
