(from autosport) Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has backed Kimi Raikkonen to show his value as a 'champion' by helping the Maranello team claim the title this year. With Raikkonen's championship chances this year being all but ended by his crash in Singapore, the Finn must now play a supporting role to teammate Felipe Massa. And although Raikkonen has failed to score any points since the Hungarian Grand Prix, di Montezemolo is sure that the reigning champion will deliver at his best in the final three races of the year "I'm sure Kimi has understood this moment," di Montezemolo was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport. "Besides, he is not a rookie nor a former star: we are talking about the reigning world champion, a driver who, despite a broken exhaust in Magny-Cours, did an extraordinary race. Massa told me that without that problem he would never have beaten him. "He went quick at Spa too, but was unlucky when running off in a section where there was no run-off. By contrast Hamilton went off but was able to rejoin. "On top of that Kimi is brave and always works for the team. In the last three races he'll have to demonstrate to everyone the effects of being a champion by helping the team and Massa. It's clear we need him at 100 percent." Di Montezemolo has also not calmed down in his criticisms of the Singapore Grand Prix - which he claims deserves no place in F1. "On Sunday in front of the TV I felt like I was at Disneyworld," he said. "Let's hope that at Singapore in 2009 they'll do fashion catwalks, Disney parades, or something else. "But certainly not F1. If this is the future of racing, we are sorted... I didn't like Valencia, we'll make ourselves be heard."
The original article went on to quote doctors that Kimi will also make a full recovery from the surgury required to remove Luca's shoe from his ass in time to race next weekend...
of course he's going to have to support the team. He does work for Ferrari. I'm sure supporting another driver or another team never crossed his mind.
i think its pathetic that Luca has to tell the media that Kimi will support the team....actions are louder than words!
I'm starting to loose my respect for LdM. He sounds like sore looser when he makes unqualified statements like this. Had the one guy at the Scuderia given the correct refuelling signal, I'm pretty sure Massa would have won the race and we wouldn't have heard a single criticism out of LdM's mouth about the track. Singapore needs to work on the pit entrance and maybe a couple of other corners, but overall it was a success. With rain that might have been a different story, but we don't know for sure so far. But comparing it to Disney is unjustified and not LdM's call to make anyway.
Andreas, I find Valencia and Singapore to be totally opposite of what F1 needs. We talk about passing and overtaking on the track, I do not care what the rule changes will be next year, there isn't going to be much of that at Monaco, Valencia, and Singapore. Monaco is tradition, but the other two are total disasters. They are parades, but here I would disagree with LdM. Disney parades are much better. I would have compared Singapore to a Shriner's parade with those little cars they drive around. Beautiful scenery, but a ridiculous track for F1.
You're getting here into a very deep topic: What F1 needs. We could fill many pages of a thread with that debate. For the briefness of it, let's just say I would agree with you, that neither Valencia nor Singapore are what F1 needs. And before somebody turns that into an argument pro Silverstone, let me add that is also not what F1 needs. Valencia and Singapore have all the infrastructure in the world, but are boring tracks. Silverstone is a great track without infrastructure. Turkey is what F1 really needs: A great track with great infrastructure. But what ticks me off with LdM is that I'm 100% sure he'd said nothing at all if his boy had won the race. I'd love to hear from his entourage what his comments were about Singapore after Massa got the pole. I'm sure he was full of praise.
Ermmm yes, a ridiculous track if you don't get a result on it, yes a common theme running here... And if your inclined to rate a driver by what comes out of his mouth, as much as you care about what he does on the track, why bother about what F1 needs, perhaps more gossip, would be order of day.
even if Massa won, like he did in Valencia, no doubt it was a boring track and race. racing at nite just added some spice in it thats all.
I disagree. I thought it was a fantastic race, with or without Massa's refueling disaster. However it only got really interesting after Piquet crashed (hey, he is good for something!). That reshuffled the deck. Without that crash, yes, this would have been a total snooze of a race.
i agree with your point Andreas. the re shuffling point that it. they really shuld have reversed grids.
Luca critisized Singapore already before the race. He was proven right and I agree with him and Ron. F1 doesn't need these kind of tracks. And I agree with Andreas that not only the track should be great but also the facilities.
Reversed grids make artificial competition and doesn't do the racing any justice. Besides, the overtaking working group has analysed that in order to have any real possibility of overtaking a car should be at least two seconds a lap quicker than the car in front. So I'm not sure that reversed grids will always result in more overtaking. Reversed grids are the same as weight penalties. The teams and drivers work hard to get to the front. They shouldn't be punished just for entertainment value.
With reversed grid the racing will be greatly enhanced because the best will eventually find their way through the field. And other than adding weight, reversed grid is totally fair and self regulating: You don't need an artificial number of weight to add to the car. Instead your starting grid position is determined by your overall standings. If you do constantly poorly, you always get to start from the front (hello Farce India!). However if you are top but struggle to make it through the field, the next race you won't be as far back, hence increasing your chances to make it to the front. Adding weights is silly and unfair. Reversed grid is not. And aside from improving the racing, it would also probably keep the championship closer together. PS: Thanks for the comment about LdM. If he really criticized the track before the race, then I have no problem with him.
Coming back to the Kimi will help Massa thing: In case you haven't noticed, he has already started doing just that. He crashed in Spa and he crashed in Singapore and he will crash again in Fuji. Why? Because he is establishing a record for bad car control. And in the last or second to last race, he will deliberately take out Hamilton. And he will get away with it, because he will say, that he had lack of car control. And the FIA will buy it and Massa will get the title. The End
Uh, good one. Need to add that. In fact he'll be asked to show up at the FIA office in Paris to explain his "dangerous driving" as being in front of Kimi. He will state that it wasn't his fault that Kimi lost it, which will create an uproar on Ferrarichat and serve as proof positive that he is a pompous ass.
All we need is all the gossip we can get about LH. Like I already informed you about his relation to Eddy Jordan. Have you noticed his resemblance to Barack Obama? Yep, brothers. Bet you didn't know that either Krafty.
