Kimi declining returns rest of the year?

It seems that Kimi is heading in the wrong direction with Ricci surging forward.

Do you all think Kimi will continue to be inconsistent and falling further down the leader board the rest of the year with dnf's and being outpaced by RedBull?

Looking forward to seeing how Canada goes.

Robb

 

I guess it was just a bad day in the office....

 

Kimis been on the down slide for the past few years. If it were not for his relationship with vettel I wouldn't keep him around for another season

 

I find that to be an inherent problem with Ferrari. We need an aggressive driving team not one and a keep the peace #2. Time to get with the real world and have 2 drivers moving the team forward. MS left a long time ago and Vettel is not MS.

Kimi needs to go. Massa is now saying his last year is upon us with Williams. If a solution is not available then maybe the team has no real choice but to keep him. I see Red Bull developing talent and Ferrari not overtly doing so.

 

1 bad weekend and it's this **** again?

He's been close to Vettel all weekend for ****s sake. You lot have the shortest memory imaginable.

 

Well, last time I checked the championship's classification, he still has more points than Vettel? He had a bad race at Monaco, that's all. Overall, his season so far has been good. As already said, I wouldn't be surprised if his contract was extended one more year by Ferrari.

Ricci is not "surging forward", but the Red Bull is, helped by the Renault engine recent package of tokens; that's a good sign. That has boosted Daniel's confidence, so he is driving well, as we know he is capable of; but he seemed rather hurt by the Monaco debacle, saying "I do not know how to overcome this".

My guess is however that the Red Bull will now become the only car able to contest the win from time to time to the Mercedes. It is now obvious that Ferrari is not able to challenge for a win, under normal race circumstances. In fact, the 2016 Ferrari is not able to challenge the Mercedes as the 2015 Ferrari was. Overall, the disappointment is not Kimi, it is Ferrari.

Rgds

 

This! Kimi was doing fine and just seemed to be less comfortable in Monaco. Kimi has been quicker than Vettel on multiple occasions so far this season. The car is the issue.

 

Kimi drove terribly in Monaco but has been fine otherwise. Average performances all season from both Ferrari drivers

Red bull is improving but I feel Ricci is on really good form right now. In the earlier races he was right up near a podium and far out performing his team mate


I think in the Ferrari he would be beating both Kimi and vettel

Just my opinion

 

I like Kimi but he is just now inconsistent. He has a narrow operating window vs someone like Vettel or FA. He needs to go and Ferrari need exciting new talent and a better car. Kimi is good driver but his time has come. Didnt miss him the first time he left and wont again. His personality is not why I like him. He is hardly a mystery in terms of personality. He simply doesnt like the press or the items required of a driver in that realm. Nothing mysterious at all.

 

I go along with that. Kimi isn't the performer he used to be 10 years ago when he was at McLaren.

 

I think Kimi's been on decline since 2006. His prime years was probably 2003-2005. Ever since then, we hardly saw the new Kimi. I mean, say all you want, but he;s been winless at Ferrari since rejoining.

He got schooled by Massa, Fernando, and now Vettel. He's only ahead of Vettel in the points now because of Vettel engine issue in Bahrain, and then being punted out in Russia. He crashed all by himself in Monaco..goodness, if that was Massa, he would have been crucified.

But each year it's the same excuse..he's either not used to the car, or getting used to the car. I think if Ferrari look deep and hard, they can find a younger, more exciting driver that probably costs quarter to Kimi, and brings in the same results in.

Kimi is yesterday's news, i'm afraid.

 

Sadly, I have to agree.
I liked him, but it looks like he is past his "sell-by-date" now.
He is still occasionally quick, but on the whole his best years are far behind now.

 

Well yes, I mean why not? I respect everyone's opinion but my point here is that I don't think that this is the first priority at Ferrari. I am of the opinion that even with Ricciardo at the wheel, that car would not win a race in its actual state. They need to stop staying useless things such as "next race the car should be able to perform at Mercedes level", sort out the car first and foremost, and I do not think that the problem is the drivers.

And frankly, I think that Ricci could be a good recruit for Ferrari, but that he will have better chances for wins behind the Red Bull steering wheel, so I think he should stay put...

Rgds

 

Yes, Ferrari has technically been on the back foot for a few years now.

Their solution has been to sack 2 team managers in succession, and change some of the engineers, but it doesn't seem that this has made any difference. This is mostly politics stired by Marchionese: Ferrari at its worst.

It takes time to build up a strong design team, and having regular witch-hunts is disruptive. I am wondering if it's a very good climate to attract top engineers.

 

Taking into account the Vettel misfortune, Kimi has been close to him all season except for Monaco. Even then, qualifying on old tires, he was just 2 tenths shy of Vettel, and obviously had the penalty he couldn't do anything about.

Is he as good as 05/06? No. Is he doing a good job when you compare him to Vettel? Yes. Kimi is very much the 2nd driver in the team, and this year he's doing a much better job than years previous. We have 1 bad race, ONE, and people are once again blabbing on about how he needs to be replaced. You lot actually need to take a look how he's been performing directly compared to Vettel instead of with sand in your eyes!

Kimi may not do as much PR as some here want him to do, but even still he is the most popular driver out there. That's a lot of hats and t shirts for Ferrari's bank account to make up the gap if they hired a cheaper driver.

Talking of cheaper drivers, who exactly?

Ricciardo - not available, and to make him available will cost Ferrari tens of millions.
Verstappen - not available.
Grosjean - available, but wasn't really as fast as Kimi, only when Kimi left suddenly his car became a bit quicker...Solid driver, but I'm unsure if he can carry the team when needed
Hulkenberg - throwing him in because inevitably people here want him. Give me a good reason why. I can't see it
Perez - for all purposes, he is matching Hulkenberg any day. People called for his sacking plenty of times when at Mclaren
Gutierrez - Ferrari connection. That's all I can say.
Vergne - When the Red Bull seat opened, a motivated Ricciardo slaughtered him. Why? Ferrari has a habit of hiring so and so drivers. They hired Badoer (great at testing, nothing else), Gene, Luciano Burti (a loose canon at the best of times), Gutierrez...

Either of the Sauber boys? Please. Might as well detonated the car on the start line to take some competition out, it'll actually be useful that way.
Renault kids? I like Kmag, dropped too early by Mclaren but I need to see more
Stoffel VanDoorne - unavailable. Ron Dennis will stab his own mother before he'll sell him to Ferrari
Rosberg - proven his speed plenty of times now, but will a) command a big salary and b) has the popularity of a wet monday morning.

 

+1

 

I like kimi just fine. I'm not as knowledgeable about F1 and all the moving parts like tokens, etc... just trying to guess which team will be bringing it to Mercedes more regularly.

I appreciate the comments for my own education.

Robb

 

Frankly, I am at the turning point regarding the Scuderia. I am begining to seriously doubt that their car will be able to bring a straight fight to the Mercedes;and other that under "special race circumstances", I doubt that they will win one this year.
I know that they now say they are "baffled with the car and why they were unable to find its true pace during the qualification", but they have been promising us "the win for the next race" since the beginning of the season, and nothing came...
The drivers are not the main problem now, the car is. Put anyone at that steering wheel, and I don't think that he will turn the car into a winner.

I would very much be relieved by a Ferrari win, but I don't believe in one. But I hope to be proven wrong!
My hopes are on Ricciardo for now...

Rgds

Rgds

 

+1 - they need a 'clean weekend' lol!

 

Always pull for the car , not the driver. I remember when the last World Champion driver was in 1979 with Jody S. then Ferrari went on a 21 year dry spell...... now that was crazy. So if we are off a few years.......... just gut it out.

the driver is not the problem.

 

Imagine for a moment that you're the fourth best in the world at what you do, even without proper equipment, and people say you're washed up because you're 36.

You guys realize he is ahead of Vettel in standings, right?

There's far worse drivers on the track right now and many former champions, but I never see discussion of them. Just the guy who prefers to be left alone, which I for one, appreciate.

 

But they don't drive for Ferrari, do they.

Racing for the Scuderia puts a lot of expectations on one's shoulders.

Most of Raikkonen's critics are tifosi ...

 

Well I'm not one of them. I liked Kimi before he was with Ferrari, both times. And I'm definitely tifosi.

 

Maybe Ferrari can capitalize on how mad Ricciardo is with RB...would be a FANTASTIC hire

 

Yes but Ferrari is rapidly approaching 10 years with no titles. This is no small drought.