Kimi Raikkonen: A better driver than Vettel?

Certainly not better than Vettel, perhaps his equal though. They would certainly have some proper battles out there. It will happen.

 

Kimi, the driver who was beat consistently by Massa, is better than three time world champ Vettel? Really?




Mark

 

By your theory Schumacher should have dominated everyone up until he retired . We are discussing present tense racing. Kimi may be a better driver but its hard to say unless they both have the same car. Kimi always puts on a good show.

 

Well - no.

 

Vettel is better. Both are very quick in the race but Vettel is a better qualifier, IMO.

Vettel is also younger, has more upside, and strikes me as more "obsessed and driven" than Kimi. However, I think Kimi can maintain a cooler head when things don't go his way, so there's that. I would take Vettel in an instant if I was a team principal and had the choice, though. Both is even better.

 

That's the key - Red Bull don't have to decide they can have both!

 

I can mostly agree with this. I think Kimi is more motivated again, his last year with Ferrari I don't think he was at all 'in it' like he was in 2007. His racing prowess, like Schumacher at MB, is top notch though.

Kimi is what, 33? How many more years does he have in him? Yeah he's great, but any team who does sign him should view this as short term.

 

He'll be 34 on Oct 17th this year. He is only three years younger than Mark Webber...he's got perhaps three more seasons left? As much as a Kimi fan I may be: put the young Ricciardio in the Red Bull, and Kimi stays at Lotus, that's the logical outcome.


Rgds

 

It's all about the show, and these guys know that-who wouldn't want to see Kimi with red bull shaking things up with fresh prince Vettel? It's too late this yr but I'd love to see him in one of the current Fcars right now just to see if anybody can squeeze anything more out of it-no offense to Alonso but that's part of the show

 

Only way to find out is to put them in equal equipment.

Qualifying means nothing if you can't finish on the podium on Sunday.

As Kimi puts it, "It makes life easier, but it isn't as important as before."

Words often times proven, and most recently at Hungary, where his team mate qualified on the first row and finished 8th, while he started from the third row and finished 2nd.

 

He also said after finishing second in Hungary: "it's my fault, I keep on complicating my races on Sundays by not being fast enough on Saturdays"...

Rgds

 

Equal equipment-sell the show-I'd definitely watch

 

Put Alonso and Kimi in a faultless Red Bull car and they would be equally dominant as Andretti/Peterson was in the dominating Lotus 79 1978. Put Vettel in the poor Ferrari of 2013 and he would be nowhere.

 

Overall, no. Vettel cracks under pressure. Well, not Kimi. And given whe. In his peak, I think kimis easily the fastest guy out there

 

You do remember that Vettels first win was in a Toro Rosso, which was basically a rebadged Minardi at that point, dont you??!!

 

There is absolutely zero evidence of this and an abundance of evidence to the contrary.

2005 was a long time ago.

 

I like Kimi but don't think he will be able to overhaul Seb over a full season. He will definitely win and place better than Webber.

 

Which was designed by Adrian Newey, and optimized for a wet weather set up. Let's not forget his teammate Bourdais qualified 4th in the same car.

It was a great win, but it wasn't any more extraordinary than Pastor Maldonado's win in Spain last year.

 

Without the same car and unless Kimi joins Redbull, then it's hard to compare...

 

Which was an Adrian Newey car...you noticing an underlying trend here yet?

You know what would be neat? An F1-all-star GP...everyone in the same equipment having at it just for one race, like that Race of Champions thing, except in an F1 car...you get rid of all the fluff and buffers.

No team orders, politics, money etc just a free-for-all race amongst the drivers.

 

Well, that was the last he actually had a super fast car.

 

I'd say Kimi in his Mclaren days was as good a any.

As much as I like him (still... arrrg ! after all the non-motivational BS ) I dont think he brings the fire today like Seb.

 

I'd have to agree but that was a long time ago. The whole "lost motivation" thing has soured me on Kimi in general. I know this is going to be unpopular but I'll say it anyway, he's coming off like an entitled prick with his known aversion to PR work. Most people would kill to be a Formula One driver much less one as talented as he is. If the team asks you to do something just freaking do it. Try having a real job and see how much you like that. I don't think he's hungry enough. Seems like a quitter to me.

 

If look at the top 3 drivers right now on the WDC classification scoreboard, each one has shown a history of his eccentric quirks. Kimi's allegedly happens to be a reluctance to PR-related work, which I tend to strongly disagree for 2012-13 (back in the day, yes, I would totally agree), because if you watch any European tele now, he's been doing a lot of PR-related work for Renault, Alpinestars etc ontop of his F1 interviews and commitments.

Seems like plenty PR to me, and he is arguably the most popular driver on the grid, dwarfing even Seb at his home GP. Go checkout a replay of the German GP.

So, he's got the popularity and the speed and the consistency and a world champion...I think he's allowed to feel somewhat entitled. I can't name any other driver currently on the grid that has all 4 of these qualities. Can you?