Fact or fiction? 'Ferrari to pay-off Raikkonen'

LDM seemed happy to sign him up in the first place. A better car might motive the driver as it is hard to get excited about 2nd place...
CH

 

The problem with Kimi is not so much motivating him but keeping him motivated.

 

I personally think that Kimi got sick of his car in last season pt2. Before that, he was doing good but they had a big chassis update which favored Massa and didn't suit kimi at all. Then everyone started *****ing about him being demotivated. On top of that, the car regularly broke down (something he had with mclaren too, which pissed him off...).

Kimi has one speed, and thats full throttle. He doesn't like getting stuck behind someone whose much slower, hence in those situations he's prone to crashing.

Remember, in 2003 Kimi had 4 DNFs compared to schumachers 1. Despite this, he lost the championship with only 2 points difference, and he only had 2 years of F1 under his belt by then...

Kimi just needs a quicker car under his ass. Putting alonso in his seat and losing 50mm is stupid, because alonso isn't 50mm $ worth of development.

 

I wouldn't doubt this one bit. Kimi strikes me as having much more natural ability than long term focus. I could be wrong but his personality doesn't come across as very dynamic, inspirational or determined. No doubt he has skills but it seems he has shiny object syndrome as well.

 

asking Schumacher to move over for Kimi was probably the biggest blunder the Scuderia management made. Given Alonso's fire and determination, i would definitely like to see him in the Scuderia next year.

 

"If you see it in The Sun, ..."
......
... it's topless.

Image Unavailable, Please Login (Two large grains of salt. )

... and the silly season continues.

(Ferrari does their announcements at Monza, no?)

 

Not to be pedantic but F1 live has nothing on this story. But I did see it on Planet F1.

On a side note, I did see on F1 Live that MS is continuing his fitness program so it appears he is determined to get back in the car sooner or later. Perhaps not being able to get back in for Valencia has pissed him off enough to really light his fire once again.

I don't see Ferrari sacking Kimi until Massa is physically capable of getting back in the car and showing that he can get back up to speed. They're not going to dump Kimi if Massa for some reason can't return to F1. If that indeed does happen perhaps we might see FA and MS in the Ferraris next year??

 

Otherwise known as ADD?

On the one hand I find it healthy and refreshing that Kimi's isn't as one dimensional as the typical driver of today. In that respect he reminds me a bit of the drivers of the fifties and sixties who had a less "monastic" approach to racing.
But that does put him at a disadvantage.
Steve will explain how this is Max's fault

A team of Kimi and Alonso would have an interesting synergy.

 

+1

Kimi reminds me of a pro motocrosser that I raced against Ron Lechien. Ron had a ton of natural talent but did not want to test, work out at the gym, and when he was off the track he was a party machine.

 

As already mentioned the source of this story is suspect.

The other issue is why get rid of Raikkonen? As far as I know it isn't yet clear whether Massa will be able (or want) to drive next season and if that is still in the balance it seems unlikely that Ferrari would kick out Kimi to take on Alonso and then later have to find another driver to take Massa's seat. There's still plenty of time and I think they'd probably hedge their bets and wait until Massa's situation is certain.

 

David, don't get Steve started again - are you some sort of masochist?

 

He's been a bit quiet of late and it has me concerned
This fallow period has had an effect on us all and is Max's fault too.

 

Kimi has been a disappointment almost from the start at Ferrari. His WDC was Hamilton's to loose. Not exactly a convincing demonstration of being the best driver. From then on it went downhill, effectively giving Massa the #1 status within the team.

Even though the story might be fictional I wouldn't mind if Kimi did leave Ferrari. Too bad if Alonso would take his place. Maybe he's the best driver out there right now but there's still a bad taste about what he did at McLaren.

 

Throw another A in there for Alcohol (induced) and you are on the money

 

This is utterly stupid. Why would Kimi be willing to pass up the OTHER half of his contract amount when Ferrari has for all intents and purposes failed to provide him with a competitive ride the last two seasons. The last two seasons with the Hamilton/Button flip-flop etc. have demonstrated the crucial importance of a good car. It is no secret that Kimi thinks that there not much difference between competing for 2nd or 12th spot.

 

Last season's car was a potential championship winning car. Massa missed it by a hair. It's not the car (except this year, although he still only got half the points of Massa).

 

Potential is worthless.

 

Good bye ! Give him a few California as a buy out package..

 

As far as this year goes, Ferrari did miss the mark, but last year? That car should have won the title. Kimi didn't get the job done, period. He got beat by Massa way too much last year and made several mistakes. He hasn't been the same since he won the title.

 

two totally different driving styles require different chassis. last years chassis pt 2 wasn't good for raikkonen and suited Massa.
In 2007 his car wasn't as reliable as Lewis' car and if he finished in the positions the car failed him at, he would be about 10 points ahead of the mclaren duo.

 

I think the "car didn't suit him" thing is plain wrong. Remember how he constantly delivered fastest laps in the last 15 minutes of nearly every race? It was (and is) simply his motivation. Furthermore, if he really was such a good driver as some here claim, every car would "suit" him...

 

I really hope that this rumor turns out to be true.
On the other hand--can someone please explain to me how come LCdM is still the president of Ferrari. He was the one that wanted Kimiand forced Schumacher out. Kimi got 1 WDC ( got lucky by a point) . I am pretty sure Schumacher would had no problems winning in 2007 and 2008. So I guess Luca's move was not a very smart one and wasn't so much in favour of the company.
No offence to Massa, but I think the ideal team for Ferrari is Alonso-Kubica.