Kimi Raikkonen has admitted it was a "relief" when his lucrative deal with Ferrari ended in 2009. The premature termination of the Finns contract, making room for the arrival of Fernando Alonso and major sponsor Santander, pushed Raikkonen out of F1 completely and off to a two-year foray in world rallying and Nascar. But the now 33-year-old returned to the grid this year with Lotus, performing impressively to now sit a comfortable third in the drivers standings, and having notched up his 19th career grand prix last weekend in Abu Dhabi. He is also signed up for 2013. Asked by the Spanish sports newspaper Marca to recall his memories of racing for F1s most famous team Ferrari, Raikkonen answered: "Neither good nor bad. "I won a title with them and had some good times. I am satisfied with the three years I spent there. "I dont miss anyone," he admitted. "To me, leaving there was a relief. "The situation could have been better, but its the past and what is done cannot be reversed," said Raikkonen. "Things dont last long if youre working somewhere and the relations are not good." He explained that, in contrast, he enjoys working with Lotus. "I felt good from the start," said Raikkonen. "People work hard and calmly, but they want to win and the sport and the technical sides come before the politics." Source: nextgen-auto.com
I could see Kimi starting his own team one day. Perhaps driving for it for a couple years at the end of his career. As for Ferrari, Alonso > Kimi so if Raikkonen had to go in order to get Alonso, I couldn't care less.
I would say that is subjective and relative to context. As you can see in the current team he is on, his personality & behavior fits just fine & he is performing up to the team's standards. Different strokes for different folks and lets not forget he's won for Ferrari, so his racecraft shouldn't be in question.
Can you imagine the dialogue Kimi with Ferrari engineers. Engineers:How did it drive? Kimi: The Fuakin thin drive like shot! You fix it now I'll get a drink.
Too wordy... having spoken to Kimi in person before (albeit half-buzzed) his response would probably be more along the lines of: Engineers: How did it drive? Kimi: Like shiet. Engineers: Can you please elaborate? Kimi: Like not so good.
only 3 things to know about kimi he's quick sometimes, but not always, depends on the car he doesn't provide positive feedback for development, nor moral for a team he's an ass
Yet, in several interviews of his team members they have all expressed how happy they are with his feedback and involvement in the technical side and development of the parts... And you know he's an ass by what sort of personal experience again? Here's a youtube of the Lotus team complimenting Kimi: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2RxLbiTIoY[/ame] Fast forward to 2:10 if you want skip the other compliments about working with Kimi.
I wouldn't. He got lucky bagging that WDC (and so did Ferrari). He's fast, but like Berger only on certain days. Pete
The guy makes me laugh every time he talks. Im pretty sure he is joking most of the time and just doesnt smile when he does it.... I am glad he's back.
lol I agree. When Kimi first drove a test session with Mclaren, Coulthard said he was amazed by his work ethic; ''He woke up, got in the car, did a fast lap, said what had to be changed and went back into his motorhome. I was back out on track. When the car was finished, Kimi got back in and blitzed my time and said the car was good enough. His speed was amazing''. I may have let some stuff out as this quote is from memory. Coulthard was and still is very aware of Kimi's talent. Was he the greatest developer/F1 driver etc? Probably not. Out of the box he is fantasticly quick and he is a real racer. I prefer his attitude much more than any of the other PR robots we have in F1 now. I guess most prefer mister nice guy/role model/mr perfect. Completely agree! +1
The whole Kimi thing made me smile. When is the last time a F1 driver did that for you other than for a win, etc? Kimi is the only one who does that just by being himself. We don't have the Flavster any more, so we need some kind of bad behavior....
