Kimi no heart?

To be honest, I get the impression he doesn't have very much passion for what he's doing. It seems like he's going through the motions for the money, the lifestyle, and maybe a championship. He's hinted that he might not continue in F1 after his contract with Ferrari. People may say, that Hakkinen and Salo were the same way, but they're wrong. Hakkinen was overjoyed and very animated and happy when he won. Salo is the same way in the ALMS, and even Heiki appeard to be depressed over how badly his first race was, and seemed like he was determined to do better. So it's not a Finnish thing. I agree, his heart isn't in it the same way Michael's was or Fernando's is.

 

He has some heart, I just think it is much harder to see than other drivers because of lack of emotions that he shares. With Michael, you always knew he was excited when he won, he always did his jump and reacted to the national anthems. You really don't see anything out of Kimi.

 

Exactly...

 

Personally i think he has Heart... I just think that he is still "bitter" about the many seasons in which he came close to a chapionship but got it ripped away from him due mainly to reliability issues from the Mercedes camp.... He is in a new camp now and is still trying to adjust.. If you look at Michael the first year at Ferrari (1996), it took a little bit for the "fire" to come from him....... my .02

He'll come around...

 

Let us not confuse Kimi being dignified/shy/cool when in the spotlight with him having no heart. We will see if Kimi has heart on the track with his driving. I hope we do. Besides, we have seen pictures of him partying in private, it looked like his heart was pumping pretty good.

 

Two different situations entirely. In 96 Ferrari wasn't competitive, and Williams was winning damn near every race. Kimi on the other hand is now in the most competitive team and won the first race of the season without any trouble.

 

I think Kimi is still having issues adapting to the spec tires.

Either he'll get depressed by the early problems and become an also-ran, or he'll get his enthusiasm back when he improves.

I'm trying to think of a season where Kimi got better as the season went on. We've seen him get beaten down by car issues a couple of times.

We'll see how well he bounces back.

 

Massa is more dedicated, at this point. I think Kimi won the first race way too easily and now finds himself sort of behind his teammate's eight ball. He is not integrating himself as quickly as he should within Ferrari. He does not show his emotion, not a bad thing to most but not a good thing with the Italians. I have no doubt he will figure out his role at Ferrari by the end of the season ,and will trade vodka for chianti and be the faster of the two drivers by Monza.

In 2008 Kimi will be invincible.

 

Exactly. He's got a very calm demeanor--typical among his countrymen, I've been told--and he knows very well that it's veeeery early in the season and there are 4 solid contenders for the Championship. Winning a race at McLaren was more jubilant because he knew it was all he could hope for. He knows that Ferrari offer him a chance to take it all, so winning a race is only part of the puzzle. He'll celebrate when there's something to celebrate.

 

The point i was making is that he is in a new team and that this may contribute to the "passion" that some think he does not possess.

 

Kimi comes from a part of the world where the saying/joke "he loved his wife so much he almost told her" is representative of the pragmatic view of life taken there.

Maybe 'still waters run deep' is appropriate

Similarly, Frank Williams is known for his lack of emotion when his cars win. Why? "Winning the race is what we came to do" or similar.

Jumping up and down is no indication of resolve.

 

He probably doesn't really like the intense spotlight and wrestles with that and that gives fans different impressions.

 

Kimi, has the heart of a LION! He doesn't or hasn't shown it, yet. He will.

He is a different breed of Cat, that's all. Looks like a great season!

In his first meeting with the Scuderia, he greeted them by saying in Italian, "Buonjiorno en tutti!" Hello Everybody! He's making an effort to learn Italian, as a friendly gesture to his crew at the Scuderia, and to the Italian People, as a whole. You can't get much friendlier than that?

Ciao...Paolo

 

Are you kidding me ? He said 3 words in italian..and what words ! If he didnt know those words by then with the kind of life he has had, id be very surprised...

Its *Buongiorno a tutti..* Btw.

 

It took MS years to even muster those three words. As pointed out by RACER magazine (before somebody says I'm biased etc).

 

I dunno how long it took Michael to speak italian but he did go pick up food for the team when they were testing until late at night ( Forza May 07 )


My point is , we shouldnt be impressed by this *achievement* by Kimi..

 

Suit yourself, but if this doesn't impress you, then why did the fans and the press become so ecstatic when Schumacher used the same words to address them at the Ferrari F1 unveiling? And that was something like 4 years after he joined the team. So Kimi is way ahead in that "development curve".

I agree that it is completely irrelevant. Just like this thread.

 

Kimi will never show the amount of emotion that should be shown when driving for Ferrari and living the life style he does. I wouldnt be surprised if Ferrari replace him next season but I doubt it. Quite the opposite for the 2009 season I bet.

 

When did that become a requirement? Is that a FIA rule or something written in Jean Todt's secret handbook?

 

Right now, I am not so worried about Kimi's emotions or the lack of it.

I am more worried about the lack of qualifying pace and overtaking ability from the Kimster. He has been really fantastic in both these areas in the past but looking at Bahrain, I see him more cautious about overtaking. I really thought he could get past Hamilton in the closing stages and also Alonso in the first stint.

I wonder what is wrong with the car set up that is making him hesitate? Is it unstable in dirty air? Is he not communicating his requirements clearly to the engineers?

Hopefully we will see the Kimi qualifier of old - Monaco 05 - what a lap that was! I know he did well in OZ but he had a huge car advantage then.

 

+1

It's kinda funny how people complain about the Iceman not showing enough emotions. I remember his teammate who got bashed on here a lot for showing emotions. I guess unless it is the trademarked fist pumping and the patented podium jump (both courtesy of the Schumacher collection) you just can't win on here.

 

Forgot to add slow getaway from start line and hesitation into Turn 1.

 

Those things to me are indicative of his mind set, which is already in consistency/points collection/arrival at all times mode. Similar to Alonso. The two #2 boys got no pressure for the title and hence can duke it out at will.

But the lack of qualifying speed and the no passing (while trying to) are troubling. In essence he should have driven circles around Massa at Bahrain and he didn't. Not good.

 

You don't get this far in this (or any sport) without having passion.