Raikkonen Hypocrisy in F1 | FerrariChat

Raikkonen Hypocrisy in F1

Discussion in 'F1' started by Nuvolari, Sep 2, 2021.

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  1. Nuvolari

    Nuvolari F1 Veteran
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    Sep 3, 2002
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    Rob C.
    I'm certain the title of this thread will be met with intrigue so allow me to qualify that the hypocrisy I speak of is not on the part of Kimi but lies at the feet of F1 fans.

    How is it that some drivers can do just about anything they please and get away with it while others can barely utter a word without it being torn apart and used against them in every way possible? Some of those in the latter camp are the Hamilton's, Stroll's, and Mazepin's where there appears to be a limitless line of bashers and haters just waiting to tear them down.

    Then on the other hand you have some drivers who seem to get away everything and I have never seen anyone quite as immune to criticism as Kimi Raikkonen. In fact people revere just about everything he does and even print his quotes on t-shirts! I'm not saying that Kimi is not a brilliant racing driver but someone needs to explain to me how he is able to get away with (in the eyes of the fans) the stuff he says and does.

    Some things that come to mind:

    - When at Ferrari (the first time around) he publicly said that he gets bored and his motivation wanders. Ferrari literally paid him to stay home yet hire him back a few years later!

    - He barks at his team all the time on the radio (Good luck with Hamilton getting away with the same replies) and people hail it as awesome.

    - You can barely get a word out of him in an interview (these people are professional sports athletes btw) and people think it is cool. Whatever he does say is immaterial and a waste of everyone's time.

    - He hung around a few years too long when fans routinely roast drivers for not letting 'new blood' in.

    - He has said that he sees his work as an enjoyable hobby and while he continues to perform well he is most obviously lacking the hunger and drive of a young charger.

    Despite all of this fans love him and he can appear to do no wrong.

    Why am I saying all of this? Mainly because a lot of 'fans' really let their personal opinions get in the way of objective analysis of drivers and Raikkonen is a shining example of this. I personally may hate the way Hamilton dresses or his pushing of a political agenda but that does not take away from his extraordinary skills as a driver. I separate the two and can praise him as a driver even if I don't like other things about him.

    Raikkonen is proof that some drivers are treated very differently to others and that personal biases really cloud people's judgement. I suppose this is just basic human nature but maybe the Kimi example will make a few people re-evaluate how objective they truly are before posting a harsh criticism of another driver.
     
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  2. jgonzalesm6

    jgonzalesm6 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Kimi's overall character, and pretty much most of the Finnish people, is mostly quiet.

    I know a Finnish dentist and she says that most Finnish people aren't jovial and boisterous when something good happens to them. She's quite the fox though I will admit.

    I will say when JPM interviewed him, I saw a totally different Kimi.....more jovial and smiling. I think Kimi thinks of the media machine as "driving their narrative" when pressed.

    Why he stayed so long??? I guess teams have their reasons.....but it probably has to do with his experience, low-key character and interviews
     
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  3. jpalmito

    jpalmito F1 Veteran

    Jun 5, 2009
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    mathieu Jeantet
    Your analysis is totally correct. The only good question you don’t ask yourself is: Why so much criticism of Hamilton? The answer is pretty simple. A lot of people hate to be taken for fools. And these same people prefer a sincere alcoholic a thousand times.
    Simple as that.
     
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  4. pilotoCS

    pilotoCS F1 World Champ
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    Willis
    I'm always amazed how simple sports chat wanders off a cliff like this.
     
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  5. william

    william Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #5 william, Sep 2, 2021
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2021

    +1

    A clear case of double standards.
     
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  6. NeuroBeaker

    NeuroBeaker Advising Moderator
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    Oct 1, 2008
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    Andrew
    Kimi is pretty straight with others. He's simple, uncomplicated, and says what he thinks. He doesn't pretend to be happy/overexerted/awed when he's not. He's the epitome of the "shut up and drive" philosophy - he has no political agenda and wants to be left out of it. He's a racing driver and that's it. It's easy to admire such simple focus.

    Some of the drivers who get roasted for their utterances are the ones who are trying to weaponize the media to sell their narrative. The narrative might be that they're not just drivers, but leaders of social change. Or that their sheer talent got them where they are today and that they didn't have any help or luck along the way. Or that they deserve their current seats and that rich family contributions to the F1 team isn't what's keeping them in the sport. Such announcements are calculating, obfuscating, and folks don't like to be manipulated by drivers who view themselves as celebrities/influencers/brands rather than as just sportsmen/drivers.

    Kimi is the last of the old breed of driver. He says what he thinks (often limited to 6 words), he gets drunk and falls off a boat, he crashes a snowmobile, and turns up to drive a Formula 1 car. Bwoah.

    All the best,
    Andrew.
     
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  7. ingegnere

    ingegnere F1 Veteran
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    I’m not his biggest fan and don’t like the “I don’t care” attitude but he doesn’t have an agenda when he says or does something unlike a certain nauseatingly PC other driver… or two: read HAM and Mr. Eco-green, garbage-picking and virtue-signalling VET.
     
  8. BlueIn2Red

    BlueIn2Red Karting

    Sep 29, 2006
    233
    Tring, UK
    It's not about "objectivity" for me - I just like Kimi. I don't like the majority of the rest of the do-what-you're-told robots.
     
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  9. 375+

    375+ F1 World Champ
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    +1 and he has impeccable racecraft. He always gives an opponent just enough room--tough but fair.
     
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  10. DF1

    DF1 Two Time F1 World Champ

    Massa showed well his true capacity- Kimi. Period.

    Kimi over rated, paid and not at all missed now and when he was fired before. Bye!
     
  11. fer312t

    fer312t Formula Junior

    Nov 16, 2010
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    Passive aggressive much ;)

    Anyway...I like Kimi enough, even if he's a bit of passionless dullard.
     
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  12. william

    william Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Towards the end, I thought KImi was taking his employers for a ride.

    He didn't try very hard in his last 2 years at Ferrari, and he didn't show much interest at Alfa either.

    Fine with me if they want to pay him to just drive around, but with his racecraft and experience, I expected more.
     
  13. 375+

    375+ F1 World Champ
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    Bollocks.
     
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  14. Jack-the-lad

    Jack-the-lad Six Time F1 World Champ
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    #14 Jack-the-lad, Sep 2, 2021
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2021
    This is just another thinly disguised Hamilton whine fest, scolding anyone who dare have a higher opinion of any other driver. Who enjoys being called a hypocrite over such a trivial matter? It’s all a bit much....
     
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  15. DF1

    DF1 Two Time F1 World Champ

    Precisely my thoughts as well. His real level is Massa. Not higher. Alonso simply destroyed his myth when they were at Ferrari together. it wasnt even close.
     
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  16. Edward 96GTS

    Edward 96GTS F1 Veteran
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    Kimi always did the best he could with the equipment given. Hamilton has the best F1 car ever developed. That Merc turns backmarker drivers into championship material(ie G. Russell).
     
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  17. Bas

    Bas Four Time F1 World Champ

    Mar 24, 2008
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    Kimi is as straight forward as they come. Why does Kimi get given leeway by fans for saying (or not saying) what he says? Because he's not pretending. When Stroll was saying stuff, he could never back it up. I think you'll find in the last year the tone has changed significantly about him. I've a feeling this thread is mostly about Raikkonen-Lewis anyways so lets stick with that. I made a lengthy post in the Lewis thread about my reasons for disliking him. I'm not going to copy it, but I will say this: Lewis gets given lots of stick because he constantly contradicts himself, whereas Kimi is a constant. You'll find no fakeness about Kimi, Lewis, I mean, find a day that ends in Y and you'll probably find him doing or saying something entirely contradictory to what he claimed previously. Many people see through it and don't like it. Kimi is who he is and people love him for it (and yes, from the ''anti Kimi'' crowd, everything Kimi does, Kimi gets lots of stick.


    And for what it's worth, most of the Lewis "haters" do give plenty of credit to his driving ability. It's pointed out more than often enough. As I point out in the other thread, why does the pro Lewis crowd seemingly demand to see every post about Lewis signed off with "he is the GOAT"?
     
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  18. william

    william Two Time F1 World Champ
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    I find it absolutely hilarious that you get annoyed by silly things like that. I really do.
    You pay far too much attention to soundbites extracted from people by journos desperate for something to report.
    But even, people can change of opinions, or simply don't remember what they said before.
    Most people contradict themselves, it's human nature.
    Also, this is motor racing, not a political analysis FFS !

    As for pro Lewis, whatever that means, I don't see them demanding what you said all the time.
     
  19. Bas

    Bas Four Time F1 World Champ

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    Of course most people contradict themselves over time. Normally a long time passes between the contradictions, that most people don't even notice it. For Lewis it can happen on the same say, and it often has. And no, those aren't sound bites printed by desperate journos, those are him saying it live on TV.

    And it's not about Lewis' politics. The OP threw that in.
     
  20. william

    william Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Well, today the Daily Mail prints that Hamilton isn't happy about Russell coming alongside him, and in another rag, he said he is looking forward to work with him !!
    Both contradicting quotes extracted by different tabloids.
    I think Hamilton is taking the Mickey and playing with your nerves !
     
  21. Bas

    Bas Four Time F1 World Champ

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    I read that last night (timezone) when a friend linked that to me (via gpblog). You'll find I haven't posted that unverified drivel here, or anywhere. I quite literally just said to you in the post above I don't take note from sound bites posted by desperate journo's, is this your ''gotcha'' moment or something? If so it has failed spectacularly.
     
  22. Giallo 550

    Giallo 550 Formula 3

    May 25, 2019
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    I’m not a Kimi fan and wouldn’t behave the way he has sometimes behaved, but I respect the fact that he has never pretended to be something he’s not, and that he has matured into a family man.
     
  23. Natkingcolebasket69

    Natkingcolebasket69 F1 World Champ

    I find Kimi amusing but overall he seems rather uninteresting. Acts like a ****** sometimes !
    Great career but not an all time great to me.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  24. william

    william Two Time F1 World Champ
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    I just wanted to outline that contradiction is inbuilt in F1, most of it generated by avid media inventing quote.
     
  25. Edward 96GTS

    Edward 96GTS F1 Veteran
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    Kimi is a Finn. its as simple as that. very different culture.
     
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