What is the problem people have with Kimi? He won a WDC and WCC for Ferrari. He doesn't complain or throw temper tantrums especially over the radio. He doesn't get in Vettel's way. He scores enough points to keep the WCC hope alive and what the car can do. He's a fan favorite (for some at least).
Completely agree. Ferrari see his value however all the armchair quarterbacks cant seem to comprehend it.
People just rag on Kimi because of his age.......they are just starting to do it with Alonso now as well. They figure that once you hit a certain age you are over the hill. True for some BUT Kimi has still got the speed......and much much more. Ferrari (and in the last 4 seasons McLaren) is a very frustrating team to be in. They make many blunders that cost race wins and championships. How many time have we seen Kimi forced to retire due to a mechanical issue or team error. It happens so frequent with Kimi that it really gets you made. Someone should do a high light reel from 2014-this season.
Kimi seems to get very unlucky during the races, statistically almost impossible to have that much bad luck consistently without some sort of interference . Opens up conspiracy theories within Ferrari but who knows , it does look sometimes that is not getting their best effort . I don’t believe he has lost his edge as a driver even though he is getting on and should have won a few GP’s the last 3 years , had it not been for perfectly timed bad luck
+1 And many take his ''demeanor'' (quiet, lack of communication to media) as someone whose completely disinterested in the sport and racing...unmotivated and whatnot. Funny that Ferrari still values his input so much...From Coulthard I know how accurate his input is to engineers. 10 minute compilation of Kimi.
It's weird. ''You make your own luck'' sure has a lot of weight. But look at Rubens Barrichello at his home race for instance. How much bad luck did he endure there? A sickening amount. He's always been quick there, yet even in reliable seasons he always managed to break down at Brazil. Some drivers just have more bad luck than others. I think it was Brundle that said once ''If I saw Kimi getting on my plane I'd get off and take another flight...''
David Hobbs used to say "it's like anvils are falling out of the sky and landing on Kimi" in a reference to Wylie E. Coyote from the Road Runner cartoons. Bad luck indeed!
So he messed up qualy and didn't waste any time losing a place today, took care of that right at the start. Even with Ferrari giving him an overcut chance, couldn't make that work. Would be interesting to know if Kimi ever gained a spot or even maintained his starting position through a race this year. More points lost towards a potential constructor championship. And while "Vettel said he sent a radio message about the flag being waved early in the hope it would prevent any confusion" this is what Sainz had to say about Kimi: "I arrived to Turn 2 and all the marshals were waving the flags - I knew they were wrong, I didn't slow down, but Kimi did in front."
Ferrari is already printing the label "Leclerc" for Kimi's 2019 car. I think Ferrari has had it with the two cars finishing 4 or 5 places apart.
I agree Kimi made a mistake during quali and fell asleep at the start, but how would anyone expect Kimi to overtake anyone from the top 3, let alone Bottas to overtake Vettel, or Hamilton to overtake Verstappen. The "overtaking" given the top 3 mostly takes place in the pits......all 3 competitors are evenly matched and affected by aero along with tyres. The one up front gets the clean air and pulls away from the pack. Quali and a good start is what's needed.....unless pit strategy mess's things up.
Kimi had the same car as Vettle. Kimi drove like Sloth. He is a journeyman without any passion. He enjoys driving in practice and qualifying, but he can't get it up during the race...where it matters. He offers Seb nothing in the way of support. Think of the drivers on the grid that would give anything to show what they can do in Kimi's car. Sainz, Hulkenburg, Ricardo, Perez, Ocon. All would be better than Kimi...and cost less.
It's not because of yesterday but truth is, Kimi doesn't seem to battle anyone, i never, ever see him gain any places..only lose...getting a bit tired of it...
This is what Mark Hughes at Motorsportmagazine.com Meanwhile, another very impressive race from Leclerc. It is looking more and more like Ferrari would be mad not to have him as Vettel's teammate next season.
I know that Bas, but most of the times Kimi screws up qualifying, Seb almost always makes a good lap, Kimi has the speed but most of the times akes some small mistake that is very costly, and during a race he almost never ever makes a pass on anyone....quite frankly he's still a good driver but very, very far form what he was 10 years ago...and 10 years ago he wasn't as good as he was 2 years before!!
If there was a overt caring from Ferrari about both titles then Kimi might matter. WDC is the key it seems as been posted here before. Kimi allows for a second car and good radio but not such a nice interview. He is not a personality but a race car driver who avoids the press mostly. He is uninspiring and severely over rated. Again look at his results in a Ferrari vs FA when they were team mates. He is Massa caliber overall and certainly since his return to Ferrari after being fired.
Whatever the difference in engines it wasn't three quarters of a second a lap. But more than that, you could see from Raikkonen's lap times at the crucial point in time (after Hamilton and the Red Bulls had pitted) that sometimes he was not too far off Vettel and other times he was nearly a second off. Yes, he's treated as second best in the team (and not without reason) but, whilst he still has speed (particularly in practice sessions when it doesn't count), far too often he's delivering less in results than he and the car ought to be delivering.
Kimi is not at Ferrari to win races, that's not what he's hired for. Quite what you want him to do on a power track, when he has an old engine that's not been upgraded vs a brand new upgraded engine, I don't know. Compared to Vettel he's quite close in quali and race lap times. It's only when vettel has an exceptional weekend (such as yesterday) people get angry with Kimi....
Perhaps he's a bit further of Vettel's average lap times because he's stuck behind a car (Ricciardo, Elton). Affected by dirty air and so on. On average he was 0.39 slower over the entire race, not 3/4th of a second.
