When the magazine interviewer insinuated that Kimi has lost his motivation after winning his first WDC, Kimi answered: "Ei sillä ole väliä, jos ihmiset ajattelevat tuolla tavalla. Minä en oikeastaan välitä paskaakaan." Almost complete translation from Finnish is: "It doesn't matter if people think like that. I don't really give a paskaa." Everyone can translate the last word for themselves. http://www.mtv3.fi/urheilu/f1/uutiset.shtml/arkistot/f1/2009/04/859656
I would love to see a ferrari pilot who has always wanted to drive for Ferrari. And share the same passion that the tifosi do? I am not as shallow as some on here who hate drivers, but i dont think he belongs at Ferrari IMO. Its just another drive for him.
That argument is as clueless as one stating that people with dark skin are dumber than people with light skin. Kimi is a Finn. Finns -especially men- don't cry, hug, kiss, shed tears of joy, do victory dances, kiss everyone's a$$ or otherwise show excessive emotion at every turn of their lives. Little boys who do that get their their a$$es kicked by their fathers because it is considered to be an embarrassing weakness of character. Those who bash Kimi for his basic personality need to seriously educate themselves.
Iagree with your assesment on Kimi, but every now and then Hakkinen would smile. And don't forget his breakdown in Monza. High emotion for a Finn.
Lets just say that the Monza incident was not one of the highest points of his career. The whole country was embarrassed for him. Besides all Finns are not carbon copies of each other. But the entire spectrum of personalities is far removed from that found in, lets say, Italy or Mexico (two countries that I'm very familiar with).
I have never met Kimi, but I know Mika Hakkinen. Mika was much the same way. He was quiet, shy and he tended to talk in a flat tone much of the time. But, the Mika I knew (when he was racing) and the Mika I know today should not be described as laking passion. For Mika, he was more of a "do-er" than a talker. He had a HUGE drive to win (remember his very visible disapointments when he lost). But he was simply not good at showing his emotion. And, for Mika, I also know that he was a little bit shy about his mastery of English. He was afraid that what he was saying might be the wrong word, and he would rather have been quiet, intead of mis-speaking. I think Kimi may be like this--at least I give him the benefit of the doubt. English is not his native tongue and he is guarded when speaking English. He speaks flatly in English, whereas he has much more passion and inflection in his native language. I think Kimi is driven. I think he is motivated. It is just that he is not good at talking about it.
You are correct, Sir! As far as the language goes, people need to remember that these guys don't have college education, for one thing. Mika, I believe had a trade school training as a welder. Secondly, I'm no linguist but Finnish is sort of a flat language with the weight on the first syllable of each word. It is very difficult to find even well educated Finns who can pronounce "Minneapolis" or "anatomy" without sounding stupid. And the Finns are notoriously bashful about that.
I don't give a crap if Kimi smiles or not, but when Ferrari starts to get competitive this season, and if he has another 2008 season-like, i really hope they show him the door. It would be a total waste if someone as talented as Kimi just gets 1 WDC. He, together with Alonso should be a triple WDC, at the minimum level.
Well, this season has certainly opened my eyes to the importance of the car in winning. Hasn't it opened yours?
Frankly, while i'm hoping, and i know Ferrari will get it's act back together, i'm also excited at the prospect of new teams challenging for the wins.
Brian, IMO last year Kimi took a car that was no where near designed for his driving style and also took an entire race to finally get heat into the tires...and he still got 3rd in the WDC and helped Ferrari win another WCC. Not to mention all the freakish bad luck he had to deal with. Kimi's fine. It's Ferrari that needs to step up their game...and do it now!
I agree with you Clint, but only on certain parts. True that Ferrari needs to get their game up. But whats a mystery to me is Kimi's blistering early season form...Just after his exhaust flew off at France, dso did his season. Spa, SIngapore, were all school boy mistakes. The car was fast enough for him to set the fastest laps. I'm sure nothing was wrong with the car. Lets just the whole team get their act together asap.
Kimi right now is about an 8 in driving ability/desire and probably 6 or 7 in car development/feedback.(of course a MS at the top of his game was a 10 for both) Seeing as the team is in a bit of disarray the car development thing is holding him back even more. The question is when will the whole unit get it together?
