The KIMI SUCKS Thread

Maybe because Rubens was in the Ferrari garage?

 

I think it's now been widely covered by the more technical and respected motoring press that Ferrari confirmed a clutch issue, as yet unidentified, that caused the failure of the car to select first and hit anti-stall, requiring reset. It was not Kimi forgetting to put it in gear like the novice he is being portrayed as. It was an unlucky event, happening to Ferrari's current unluckiest driver, no more. The guy demonstrated his ability by racing through the field and finishing 5th. Since it was widely predicted he would struggle to get past the force Indias given the speed they showed in practice and qualifying when it happened on the grid, to get past them and leave them for dust, and be chasing down the recognised '2nd best' Mercedes powered team, I think we should give the guy the benefit of the doubt. Had he got a good start, we could have been talking about what a fantastic pass in the first chicane he made, and what tactical genius it was to screw with Mercedes race and win at monza! Who knows?

 

During the race broadcast when they showed various replays of the start, I watched the graphic overlay during the replay of the start from Kimi's onboard camera. It showed the car was in first gear, and the engine was at around 10,000 rpm at part throttle, just like everyone else. With those conditions, it's hard to screw it up - too much or too little clutch at the bite point perhaps, but that's all that should go wrong with normal mechanical function. Thus I believe there must have been a mechanical issue.

 

I think this means we agree, thanks, I was beginning to think I was in another dimension from everyone else with what I had read! Haha

 

+1

Just wish the naysayers would take note but they have already made their mind up.

 

I guess it's just odd that it's only Kimi who has these weird issues. This didn't work... that didn't work. Spinning out because of this or that. It's just always something with him. Yeah.. maybe not his fault... but it's hard to believe that when it appears to be one bonehead move after the other. So I guess he just has the worst luck ever. I thought Seb had it bad last year. It's all someone else's fault, then Kimi takes the cake or at least shares it with a couple others in the bad luck wars.

 

He has 2 races left - How much more time does he need???

Kimi Raikkonen expecting his difficult run of results to end soon | F1 News

"But ultimately he's also got to be able to perform and what we saw at the weekend is if Sebastian has a pretty lacklustre performance, which he did, then Ferrari look pretty lacklustre because Kimi isn't going to step up now and take that on from the lead driver. He's not performing at that level."

 

As a Kimi fan, I am the first to be disappointed by his lacklustre results, and to admit he has no excuses, but on the other hand, he is (or was, which is the big question) the only driver who has been able to win two Grand Prix with the Lotus, and speed-wise, was holding his own against Grosjean, who is really fast. Even at 36, I just can't believe his is past his prime; perhaps not the guy he was in 2005, but there must be enough speed left to win one or two Grand Prix before his retirement. One thing is sure, with him gone, the Grand Prix world will be more boring...
I'm still hoping.

Rgds

 

Kimi has been w/ Ferrari for almost 2 entire seasons and has, what ... one podium? How many podia (?) did Fernando and Seb collect over the same (almost) 2 seasons? What are the qualifying stats of Kimi vs. his teammate? The 1st person you must beat is the guy in the same car, and by that measurement Kimi has been pitiful.
Has Kimi led a single legit lap (not talking about when everyone else pitted) in a Ferrari in the last 2 years?

 

+1

I'll miss Kimi when he is gone. I still remember how he landed in F1 with very little previous experience and did quite well.
Kimi was fast but never consistent like Mika Hakkinen was. Sad to consider that his best days are behind him now.

 

Mika was the last true "gentleman world champion"; he has so much class that you would be forgiven for forgeting how fast he was. And under that elegant behaviour was a steely will and resolve. A well balanced driver; perhaps the greatest Finn of them all. Choosen as "the most typical McLaren driver" by the whole McLaren employees.

Rgds

 

I like Kimi but I didnt miss him the first time he was gone. He is the example of a career under-achieved. He has questionable work ethic and has a very narrow window where the car will work for him, and had to be fired from Ferrari. In F1 now talent is not enough.

Work hours matter and you have to be able to communicate effectively. His treatment of the press is another issue altogether. The sport has needs and wants and he has roles to fill other than drive. Simply putting out information for fans is not a chore. Its part of the job and always has been.

His demeanor is not ice its obstinate for no reason. If anything his ice is his defense as he does not at all handle stress well. He is not ice in that sense at all. His drive next year is a gift, and Ferrari can be charitable, as they were with Massa and I am a Massa fan. He stayed too long as has Kimi.

 

Well, I must say frankly that I'm not able to say if working hours still matter that much today, since the banning of testing...
He still has some speed left in him, as his times are not that far from those of Sebastian. Kimi has his destiny in his own hands now: he has a good car, and one season waiting for him: I would not be satisfied if he retires at the end of next year without one more Grand Prix win, or two.

Rgds

 

This is something I question; I mean the PR role that drivers are supposed to fullfil nowadays. I don't think everyone is a good communicator anyway, and for me, substance is the most important, not the rhetoric.
It's also something relatively new that came with the increased exposure of F1 and motor racing over the last decades. It was not always like that.
Now, with the interviews, the press conferences, drivers spend most of their time answering questions, having to explain themselves, repeat the same stories, etc...
The F1 protocol even make these mandatory for the drivers, the team managers, etc... A driver is constantly bombarded with questions from different journalists, several TV channels, etc... Drivers have to explain their every move, explain their tactics, expose their moods, analyse other drivers, comments on incidents, etc... Even their radio communications with their team go on the air !!! This is very intrusive, I feel.
It didn't use to be like that, and I wish the media, the fans, the groupies and all the hanger-on could give the drivers a break.

I think Raikkonen's attitude is in reaction to those demands. The guy likes to drive, but cannot be bothered with all the circus around racing. I can understand that.

And if people think that Kimi is sometime difficult to handle, they should have tried Denny Hulme! On a bad day, the "Bear" would have told any journalist were to go in no uncertain terms! He didn't care, and I presume he would never get a drive now in the new F1 environment.

 

Some say that "Denny the Bear" was eating one journalist for breakfast every day...liked him a lot; when he was team mate with Jack Brabham, their yearly conversations must have amounted to a grand total of: "not much"!

(by the way, remember that it will be 50 years in 2016 that the trio of New Zealanders: Denny Hulme, Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon made three of the four drivers that made first and second at the 1966 24h du Mans...)

Rgds

 

Le Mans 66. I was there ! The Golden Age of Le Mans, I think. Although I was gutted that Ferrari was defeated at the time.

Re. Hulme. The media were always more demanding on the other side of the Atlantic, compared to Europe, and he was regularly mobbed by the journalists in the USA during his CanAm days. Hulme couldn't care less and used to be very rude to them. Bruce McLaren took care of the PR for the team. Once Hulme found a reporter waiting for him in his motorhome, the door burst open and the unfortunate was unceremoniously physicaly thrown out amid much expletives!!

Jack Brabham . I wonder how he would figure in today's F1 environment.

 

Re Jack Brabham, and just for the anecdote: have a look at a pic I have just posted in the thread "pretty girls with Ferraris"...

Rgds

 

In which forum ?

 

"general forums", then "detailing and showroom", then "pretty girls with Ferraris".
The pic is form 1966 also.

 

Got it !

Francoise Hardy: la coqueluche des Francais circa 1965, non?

"Tous le garcons et les filles ..." I remember that, and then the relationship with Jacques Dutronc. The 60s were a nice era to be around in France.

 

Yes, she was "la coqueluche des Français" indeed; she is still living with Jacques Dutronc, by the way.

Rgds

 

No driver is forced to be in F1. They pursue it. It comes with a price. Zero sympathy I have for their lack of savvy and reality about their actual duties. Zero.

 

Most people landing in F1 have pursued the ambition to DRIVE and are good at it. They didn't choose to be treated like celebrities and to be mobbed by the public , or to have to go through hours of autograph signing, to appear in useless press conferences or rehearsed PR.
Their "duty" is actually to race and get results, the rest is pure BS.
I prefer an individual who is shy and clumsy at the microphone, but drives well, to a PR-schooled guy repeating the same empty message with a cheesy smile.

Modern times has made the public, the fans, extremely demanding and invasive in the life of sportmen. As for sponsors, they use drivers without shame. It should not be so.

 

I don't know if I'd call him the last of the true gentleman racers, but I agree he was one of my favorites, and you summed him up well.

 

I like eloquent and intelligent drivers who are not afraid to pass news and insight. Thats not too much for a fan to ask. Again they know this is part of the job. No surprise.