Kimi Raikkonen's return to Formula 1 next season creates a field with as much depth of talent as any in the history of the sport. Six world champions will be on the grid at the start of 2012, with a total of 14 titles between them. There are also multiple race-winners in Mark Webber and Felipe Massa, plus what I believe are certain future winners in Paul di Resta and Nico Rosberg. But while Raikkonen's return will add another fascinating thread to an already rich tapestry, will Lotus get the driver they think they are getting? There is no doubt that Raikkonen at his best would be a powerful addition to almost any F1 team, but can the 32-year-old reach again the sort of heights that led to victories such as that at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2005, when the Finn claimed victory for McLaren in arguably the greatest race in Formula 1 history? Having battled up through the field from 17th on the grid, Raikkonen won with a stunningly audacious move at the start of the final lap, overtaking Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella around the outside at 160mph going into the first corner. Although Raikkonen would go on to win the world title in 2007, the race in Japan was in many ways the pinnacle of his career. He was certainly never as consistently great again as he had been in 2005. By the end of the 2005 season, it was widely known Raikkonen had signed a contract to move to Ferrari in 2007 as a replacement for Michael Schumacher. Raikkonen was expected to take over the role of team leader, with Felipe Massa a dutiful number two, but the Finn's performance fell short of what was expected. His low-key personality was always going to make it difficult to dominate a team in the way Schumacher did - or Fernando Alonso has done at Ferrari in the last two years - but more of a surprise was Massa's ability to match him on the track. Raikkonen did take the title in his first year at Ferrari - but it was a somewhat fluky win. Firstly, title rivals McLaren went into meltdown after the partnership between Alonso and rising star Lewis Hamilton soured. Secondly, Ferrari engineered the victory Raikkonen needed in the decisive final race in Brazil by swapping positions on the track with Massa, who was dominating. Having won the title, many thought Raikkonen might step up a level in 2008, but Massa became the de facto team leader. This was not what Ferrari expected of Raikkonen, whom they paid a reputed $50m a year, the highest salary in the history of F1. Midway through 2009, they'd had enough and decided to terminate his contract a year before it ran out. After paying Raikkonen at least a full year's retainer not to drive for them in 2010, Ferrari took on Alonso in his place, despite not knowing whether Massa would make a full recovery from an accident in Hungary that left him with a fractured skull and forced him to miss the rest of the season. The difference between the relative performances of Alonso and Raikkonen at Ferrari could barely be more stark. Whereas Raikkonen had been evenly matched with Massa, Alonso has destroyed the Brazilian in the last two seasons. So many questions arise from this comparison. Was Raikkonen never as good as some thought he was and Alonso simply in a different league? Has Massa been affected by his accident in 2009 in a way neither he nor Ferrari are either aware of or will admit? Was Raikkonen increasingly demotivated at Ferrari and therefore performing under-par? Was his legendary 'partying' affecting his driving? (There is a famous YouTube film of him falling off the roof of a boat with a drink in his hand and landing on the deck on his head) Has Massa been unable to cope alongside the dominant personality of Alonso, but was able to give his best alongside Raikkonen, a man who paid no attention to 'working the team' and simply believed his job was to get in the car and drive? So damaged had Raikkonen's reputation been by events at Ferrari in the last five years that any return to F1, after a humbling couple of years in world rallying, was never going to be with a top team. There are too many other good drivers out there, without Raikkonen's baggage, for that to happen. So Raikkonen finds himself in a midfield team struggling to rebuild itself and a long way from finding the form that took Alonso to his two titles in 2005-6. In theory, Raikkonen could be just what Lotus need. If he returns fully committed, as he says he will, with a raised tolerance of all the things he grew to detest about F1 - the media and PR work - he could be a valuable addition. But will that motivation remain once the reality of midfield life hits him, when he realises just how much of a struggle he is in for, how far away he is from the top teams where he used to reside? And will he really help the team progress? On that subject, there's a joke doing the rounds. It's set in the Lotus engineering office at a race some time in 2012. It goes like this: "How was the car, Kimi?" "Good." "How was the car, Vitaly [Petrov]?" "Good." "OK. Debrief over." On the other hand, put yourself in the shoes of Lotus team owner Gerard Lopez and team boss Eric Boullier. Robert Kubica, who any team would want if he was fit, is still months away from being able to drive an F1 car again - and may never be able to do so. Having ruled out Rubens Barrichello because there are too many questions about his age - he is now 39 - and motivation, your driver choices are Petrov, Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean. Good, solid drivers all - and Senna, particularly, has shown these last few races that he has potential. But then you remember Suzuka 2005 and other great drives. You remember Raikkonen's championship challenges in 2003 and 2005; his clinical, error-free consistency; how he was always at his best on the great 'drivers' circuits'; the way he grabbed victory by the throat in Belgium in 2009, the only race that year where Ferrari had any chance of a win. You remember that great drivers just make things happen and you think what Raikkonen could do in your car, how much of a difference he could make. Then it becomes easier to see why you might take the risk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/11/is_raikkonen_worth_the_risk.html
After the Kubica's rally incident, I'm sure Renault were thrilled to hear about Kimi's snowmobile exploits. BHW
Disclaimer: I'm a big Kimi fan Kimi riding the snowmobile as a Fin is probably much less risky than Kubica trying out street rallying. Renault was certainly not thrilled, but the the risk isn't as high. Other guys play soccer or go skiing during the season, chances are you break a leg there. Or ride bicycles and get hurt (Weber). Kimi will be struggling coming back because a) he is past his zenith, b) he isn't used to these kind of cars, c) he doesn't get much practice time, d) he had a motivational problem with Ferrari already. I'll welcome him back but I don't expect much of him. No question a healthy Kubica would have been much better, but even an-over-the-hill Kimi is an improvement over a Petrov or Senna. My question is more: How long until he throws in the towel again? If he is really serious, then this is all a prelude to getting the 2nd RB seat from Weber in 2013. With that he'd have a real shot at another title. But I'm not holding my breath that he'll last that long. I've yet to see a comeback in modern F1 that was successful. The last one was Lauda, but those were different times.
+1. I tried to post virtually all of these points yesterday and no luck. Working now I guess. Kimi will be mid pack trying to pass and will be also getting passed. I give him 2 yrs max. New seat or out again. Ferrari paid him to leave. That says alot. I wish him the best but Vettel has even stated this is going to take time. Nothing in F1 has changed that Kimi didnt like. In fact those things are worse. We will see soon. If for some reason he is outpaced by his new team mate I give him less than 2 yrs.
You must mean, then, that most drivers in F1, past and present, are not successful. Lauda came back and won....so obviously you meant that's a success. That has to mean that anyone who drives F1 and doesn't win a WDC is not a success. Simple logic, but it sounds a bit harsh to me. I think anyone who drives in F1 has "made a success" of their career, and if they made a comeback, that's a success already...just being there...is more than you, me and most of us on fchat have managed to do, and let's face it, how many of us wouldn't want to trade places with even a back marker?
I see what you're saying but he has said that he wouldn't of even thought of coming back if he wasn't motivated, and like the article says a motivated Kimi is probably in the top 2 or 3 of the fastest men in F1. Also You remember Suzuka 2005 and and Spa 2009, both arguably the best drivers circuits on the calendar, if he can emulate that, he's got a great chance of winning races. The car just needs to be half competitive as it was in 2009 and it's possible.
Yes of course its a good thing for him. He has earned it. The expectation is he will be a 'game changer' or pick up where he left off in a way. I think it will not be as easy given the team he has joined. The question marks around his motivation and results come from Ferrari days he had that were well below expectation even with a title.
Of course my reply wasn't referring to Kimi in particular, but more Tif's general "come back" comment. Kimi? His final year...he lost me. I no longer have faith in him TBH, but what do I know?
IMHO a comeback only makes sense/is successful if you pick up where you left and at least do as well as you did before. If you just come back to be an also-run than it is not a success if you were winning before you left. Not really. That's a different matter. Most drivers in F1 are successful in that they make a good living of what they're doing. So a midfielder can be successful without winning and I would even say that a midfielder having a comeback back to midfield would be successful, although that rarely happens. Heidfeld and dela Pink could be considered comeback kids and successful in that sense. But then again who cares about them in the first place? PS: And yes, I would trade places with any backmarker. As you can see I'm even happy just "driving" a static sim...
I just realized that both Kimi and Romain are comeback kids. Has that ever happened before? Could be historic.
I don't think Kimi will shine. Wouldn't be surprised if he ends up with the same points total as Grosjean. But it may be well worth it to the team for publicity and other financial purposes.
I don't believe Kimi would come back into the sport if he wasn't motivated, an I'm not talking about being motivated by the money.
need to define comeback... to what ? If one means returning to competition in the F1 dicipline, then it would be Yes. If one means returning to his previous level, then No, it is rather unlikely Lotus can move from being a backmarker team to one running up front, not impossible but highly improbable... If Kimi can raise level of performance of the team and contribute to moving the team forward, then perhaps one could claim making his comback a success It's all in the equipment, a driver can't be a hero with zero from the equipment, just look at the past season, past champions left wanting... as the cliche' goes " can't make chicken soup from chicken**** "
I don't think Kimi is at Lotus to try and develop the car and move the team forward. He is there to come to terms with the new tires, DRS, KERS, etc. He's been gone for a few years, and now he needs to get himself acquainted with all of the new features of the sport. Once he has done that, he's off to Red Bull to take Webber's seat in 2013. Renault are banking on Kubica coming back into the sport by then, and Kimi's seat will be a nice vacant spot...
Sad to say, but I agree. In my opinion, signing Kimi was to replace Kubica, not hold a place for him. They don't need, nor want, two number ones....that is, assuming either can still drive like a number one. Mark
+1 and here's a few of the reasons; - He's a proven winner. - He is (or at least was ) one of the fastest drivers on the grid. - His "natural talent" is beyond reproach. - As I've said before, he's a very, very good developer - The Mclaren guys are on record (via Jenson) as saying he's a great communicator about the car, gives good feedback and knows what he wants. - Plus he throws one hell of a party by all accounts Kudos to Lotus for hiring him - I guess he's not costing *that* much but at least they're showing they're serious by not simply hiring pay-drivers - He should be a good benchmark at the very least. I think he's going to drag them up the grid - Probably not to a title but at least a few podiums and from there, who knows? Cheers, Ian
+1 He might struggle the first few races trying to get to terms with the tires etc, but after that I reckon he'll make Grosjean cry . I like the 2013 Red Bull idea as well. Smirnoff and Ola are certainly committed, already loading up the pit with stock for winter testing! Image Unavailable, Please Login
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96728 Just a few caveats to Kimi and what is expected. Lotus probably realize they are taking a risk with him.
IMO Kimi has seen what it is like to "live on the streets" of racing. All his attempts at something else ended in ashs. I hope he realises he was put on this planet to race F1 cars. Lotus/renault needs a super-hero to get it moving in the right direction and Kimi is the only one available. Its all up to him and his motivation.
I am not nor have I ever been a Kimi fan but it will be nice too see him race again before he is sent back to the ice fields.
