Kimi does pretty well this season, but given the results I don't think the RedBull car is superior to the Ferrari's.
I would agree that Ferrari have had the edge up until this race,but RB bounced back in qualifying for Spain and had good race pace too. Max just looked to have more grip towards the end of the race,Kimi couldn't get close enough even with DRS to pass him.
agreed though red bull have been out qualifying ferrari recently and look to become the clear second best team. bad news for ferrari
Renault has a huge amount of tokens left, so should be able to make a huge step in performance. If it's as big as I think they can do, the RBR's might just have a run at this championship . I don't care if it's Ferrari or RBR, as long as the Merc's are being challenged properly!
Ascending, with more firepower in the back pocket. Ferrari pretty much have already blew their load... RB= 24 development tokens Ferrari= 6 tokens Ferrari will be lucky to hang onto 3rd in the constructors.
Damn, Kimi your a lazzy guy..joined 2011 and only 2 posts!!! But i get it,you have been busy pestering your neighbours driving that motorcycle!!!...when you're not driving a Ferrari!!
I love Kimi, even before he drove for Ferrari. His ice cold demeanor entertains the heck out of me. I'm glad he's doing well this year. Would like to see him back at Ferrari again next year, hopefully with a better car.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2016 Villeneuve no longer Raikkonen critic Jacques Villeneuve says he is no longer a critic of Kimi Raikkonen. Earlier, the 1997 world champion regularly hit out at the performance and questionable motivation of the Ferrari driver. But Villeneuve said at Monza: "I have become a Kimi fan. "I'm very surprised by how much Kimi has improved, and how well he is currently driving," the French Canadian said of the 2007 world champion. "He seems to be more concentrated than ever before," Villeneuve told the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat. "A couple of years ago, Kimi seemed bored, as if he was only there because he had a contract. But now everything is different. "Kimi seems to be happy, he speaks a lot with the press, he is highly motivated and clearly he is enjoying his driving. "I think his happiness has come from his family life with his wife and son. It's like everything in Kimi's life is in balance," Villeneuve added.
Considering how much he lets his pointless voice be heard to anyone that'll listen, especially his criticism...Frankly if he'd been critical he'd be more in the spotlight, or said something regarding Vettel (he's also not his biggest fan IIRC) that he sucks or something. Reality is that Vettel isn't driving any slower but Kimi has well and truly stepped up his game.
Niki Lauda thinks Sebastian is weaker. "Sebastian came as a beacon of hope to Ferrari; a kind of saviour as Michael Schumacher was. At the beginning it worked quite well," said Lauda, "but at the moment Sebastian is struggling in this role. "I cannot say exactly why, but we see that Kimi Raikkonen is often faster, which for me means that Sebastian is weaker. He is certainly not in the role that he expects from himself and Ferrari expect of him.
Lauda isn't always right, of course. I don't think Rosberg was cruising as such, neither was Hamilton, as the latter had what, 40+ laps to close that 13 second gap? It actually grew to 15 seconds in the end...Vettel finished only 5 seconds behind Hamilton, so certainly Vettel was pushing. When Vettel smells an oppertunity he absolutely goes for it. Kimi was only 6 seconds behind Vettel. IMO to me it seems Kimi has definitely upped his game. Canada showed that Vettel definitely hasn't lost interest...
Of course Bas, but you know as well as I do that Jacques is prone to say very true things from time to time, alternating as well with strange things also. What should we believe, then? How to classify his new admiration for Kimi? Among the true things, or among the strange ones? (of course it is plain to be seen that Kimi is indeed driving better these days, but I do believe that Sebastian has slightly, somewhat oh so slightly, weakened...) Rgds
I think it's easy to imagine Vettel may have lost a little motivation this year, as it's clear that the merc can't be beaten unless it beats itself, but it's nice to see that Kimi has found his performance again. The car is coming towards kimis style, next year maybe more so, and next year, Vettel will be revitalised, at least at the start, and then depends whether we are in for another boring season of also rans behind merc of whether we or anyone else gets a chance to truly challenge
I think Lauda is right. We and Ferrari were expecting much more from Vettel, maybe too much. My biggest concern is we have TWO drivers that struggle with motivation ... I cannot see us being successful until they are gone I'm afraid. The main thing MS bought to Ferrari was that he gave 110% all the time and this lifted the team. Alonso did the same, in his way, and we got close but the car was poor ... but these current drivers need the team to lift them Pete
I think it's tough to be motivated when you're racing against a team that is unbeatable unless they crash into each other or break down. The only team that matches them is Red Bull, so the only motivation they have is to beat them. If Vettel/Kimi turn the engine up to qualy speeds (forget that they'll run out of fuel), all they're going to do is wear the engine out, and they're unlikely to gain a position. The wonderful thing about refueling is that teams can bring themselves into play by running alternative strategies. The downside is more pitstop overtaking (though it was fascinating to see strategies being played out...certainly more so than cars unable to push because they'll run out of engines later on in the season or run out of fuel!).
