RAIKKONEN: Post European GP Comments/Interview

Maybe this shows that Kimi, as good a driver that he is, is not capable of setting-up a car properly in order to be competitive. Car setting is one of the skills that are forgotten nowadays and is not often recognized in a driver... Also communication of what he feels from the "seat of his pants" to his engineers may also be an issue. Seems that Massa is much better in doing that.

In any case, it looks like Kimi does not fit very well with Ferrari and is underperforming...

 

Thank you for clarifying. Kimi has in fact been leading the "FDC" for MOST of the season.
I agree that Kimi should not be ditched at this time, but he really needs to up his game if he wants to defend his WDC.

Since the standing between the Ferrari drivers is still so close, I do not think it is time to put all of the support behind one of the drivers yet. However, any way you look at the numbers, Massa is currently looking the most likely Ferrari driver to win the 2008 WDC, and if Massa keeps performing there is no room for more errors or bad luck for Kimi.

 

Can't say I agree that Massa is looking like the most likely winner. Until this race, Kimi was leading the entire season. You said it was "MOST" of the season - I believe that is incorrect, I believe Kimi has always been leading Massa at every point during the season, with the one exception being when they were tied (2 races ago, IIRC), but until now, Massa has never led, whereas Kimi has always led. Kimi has also had a lot of bad luck - most of it not his fault - this year, and I think it would be hasty to say that Massa's drives have earned him the support of the team including Kimi.

Also, the only thing a #2 driver can really do is take P2's during times when the #1 driver is shooting for P1, and the #2 driver can move over when the other driver is directly behind him. There has only been one race this year where Kimi finished 1 spot in front of Massa, and also given the fact that Kimi has been leading the WDC all year over Massa, I would say that even at this point, Kimi is likely a more logical choice for the full support of the team. That would be especially true if Ferrari runs into any troubles. Massa does best when he qualifies first and takes the win. If he doesn't start on the front row, he's not likely to get a win, and if Ferrari find themselves not taking pole at most of the rest of the races, Massa may falter. And if Ferrari does end up taking pole at most of the races, then it's probably a self-solving problem (whether to choose Kimi or Felipe), as the WDC could be won without any breaking of rules and implementation of team orders.

 

Kimi certainly doesn't have Michael's drive, passion or ability to make up for lost time while his opponents are in the pits, or qualify on top, or climb back through the field, or improve the car and the team as a whole, or...................

 

Kimi does seem to need practice connecting lights with "go", given that his starts aren't all that impressive lately. But Ferrari could certainly improve the human factors on that pit light system, too. (Although I imagine that reliability is the priority at this stage of its development.)

Of course, the human factors on the starting lights aren't all that swift, either. Imagine a power failure just before the start -- four lights on, then all the lights go out, and chaos ensues on the grid.


I remember hearing an old story about an F1 driver who, during his test in the race car, asked the pit crew to add a half pound of air to one tire. The crew, wondering who this kid thought he was, removed a half pound instead. The driver went out for one lap, came back, and told them, "I wanted a half pound more, not less". They hired him on the spot.

By now, I'd expect a half psi to be pretty obvious on a modern F1 machine. But there are a lot of variables in car setup.

 

Bring Vettle into Ferrari. The kids got talent, he's hungry , enthusiastic , ala
heir Schumacher.

 

Actually, No.

After Canada, Phil had 38 to Kimi's 35. Phil remained tied or ahead until his DNF in Hungary, and is ahead again after Kimi's DNF in Valencia.

So Kimi's been ahead after seven races, Felipe's been ahead after four, and they were tied once. But Kimi's lead was after the first six races, and once since.