As if Silly season couldn't get any sillier...KIMI TO SAUBER!!

Personally I see a lot of pluses with this move. Leclerc moving to Ferrari in 2019 might just be the swift kick to the goods to get Seb to start focusing on the rest of the season. Kimi going to Sauber will bring to them the input that only a veteran driver can bring. Leclerc will now get to be on the spotlight, it is his time to shine and show the world that he can handle the pressure.

 

Fangio only raced in 53 F1 races. No where near what Kimi has done.

 

Kimi chopped Vettel in Monza because Kimi was racing Vettel for himself, not racing Hamilton for the team. The correct move for Ferrari and for a competent #2 driver would be for Kimi to drive straight, defending Hamilton rather than Vettel. Instead, Kimi behaved selfishly and screwed the race for both himself and Vettel.

 

Vettel put his car where it should not have been. That’s what screwed the race. Kimi did nothing wrong.

 

Vettel himself has said that Kimi is allowed to win. Kimi was starting on pole, at a track he's obviously very quick at, so he was racing. Do you want a racer or a bouncer like Bottas?

Me? I'll take a racer any day of the week, and let the cards fall as they may. However that being said, I have no doubt that come lap 15, 30, 40, or 50, if they'd asked Kimi to move over for Vettel he would do it.

 

Kimi didn't chop Vettel, he towed Vettel. Starting first and second, the goal is to get both cars through the first lap in that order, not have the pole sitter slow down to allow Vettel through. That is just risking having Hamilton take the lead as he is towed to the first corner by Kimi. Once Vettel lost out to Hamilton, he should have waited for the right time to pass (DRS perhaps!!) He had the quicker car, plus the benefit of having Kimi control the pace if needed. Vettel tossed this one all by himself. Then, to prove their inability to outsmart Mercedes, Ferrari throws Kimi's chances out the door with poor strategy.

 

Really? I see LEC as no better than third in the WDC. Probably more like fourth or even fifth now that VER will get his way at RBR.

 

Yeah I think 4th place will be where he ends up. No better than 3rd, but that's about the same as Kimi this year. I really would have preferred Kimi going out on top with Ferrari as his last ride, but this is the next closest. Maybe the last race of 2020 Kimi will race in the Ferrari like some athletes sign a 1 game contract to end their careers with the team they were most fond of.

 

I'm really curious about what is expected of him.....or required of him by contract....for the rest of this year's races.

 

At this point of season - complete and total support to Vettel one would think.

 

Yes, but he's probably thinking, "Mwoah........why should I?"

 

I hope to see some “no-fix-given” type racing from Kimi hereonin!!!

 

His salary will be paid by Fiat next year, so I suppose that the deal includes loyalty to Ferrari for the rest of the season.

As it should be anyway, even if he was going to retire.

 

This. His days of getting a win would be over to me. He's leaving and the focus is to fight back against Mercedes and against the ridiculous errors on Ferrari and Vettel's part.

 

Congrats to Kimi

 

They'll probably muff a pit stop to keep him behind VET if they need to......or maybe their standard race strategy would be enough.

 

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I disagree. They haven't shown much loyalty to him, sacrificing his races for Vettel and then, when he is performing at the best level he has, replacing him. I hope he races for himself and wins and F Vettel's championship hopes (which really aren't much anyway unless Hamilton bins it in a race).

 

Kimi - They employed and paid him. Thats loyalty in F1.

 

The only loyalty that a team owes to a driver is paying his salary: he's an employee and has to what he has to do.

But anyway, Raikkonen has already wasted his chances of winning the championship being outpaced, outqualified and outscored by his team mate for most of the season, so playing the support role is mandatory.

 

LOL love this guy!

 

what are you talking about?

 

It may be just me, but do folks notice that Kimi is smiling a lot more lately? I wonder if getting away from Ferrari and being able to concentrate on just driving and developing a car -- as well as the recognition that he is coming to the end of his time in F1 - haven't made him enjoy things a little more.

 

He seems a lot more upbeat. I guess he really just wants to be around fast things and traverse the world w the F1 circus.