You never know what you are going to get which Raikkonen; one day he could seem very apathetic, the next day he could be amazing. There is no way to predict him which is part of his appeal. I do hope he does well though because when he is on it he is amazing and very exciting to watch.
I think there's some substance to this Mifune. There can be little doubt that his reappearance will add yet another dimension to what is already one of the most - if not the most - competitive grids of any era in the history of Grand Prix racing. For that reason, it will be very interesting to see how Raikkonen performs.
His age hampers him on quick short runs, over endurance levels he is as fit as Hercules and can race anyone 20 years after his debut. It is a shame he is 42, if he was half his age - he would be giving both Nico Rosberg and both Ferrari's a run for their money.
Before his accident, Massa had scored nearly double the points of Raikkonen, so definitely had the upper hand. However Fisichella definitely cannot be compared with Kimi, having never ever driven a car with KERS before, and with no testing, there was no way he could ever get anywhere close to Raikkonen. In general, I think Kimi can be a decent driver (just look at 2003/5) and hope that 2012 will be one of those years.
Looking at the stats of 09, he did have a solid season considering the car wasn't fast enough to challenge for the championship. I still don't understand this whole 'Kimi wasnt interested in 08' thing, if you watch Spa 08, he drives on absolute limit to try and win rather than settling for 2nd place.
I don't think Kimi necessarily became disinterested after winning the title, I think it was more disillusionment with the sport due to more media attention and commitments. I think this resulted in him not putting in the effort he should've done, particularly regarding setup. The amount of times he was driving a car (and this is including 2008) which understeered on entry and then oversteered on exit suggests he didn't have a remotely well balanced car. And it can't be blamed on the inherent properties of the car since it won the constructors and Massa almost won the WDC in it. I imagine he'd just turn up to drive and then hurry away as quickly as possible to avoid the cameras and microphones, without studying any data properly. That and he was drunk and sleep deprived half the time.
The impression that I got from Kimi was that he was not happy about the presence of MS on the pit wall. 2009 car seemed to be difficult to drive judging by the performances of the substitute drivers. 2008 he seemed to have the better of Massa and then after about 3 bad races he was practically ordered to let Massa earn more points.
Fisichella was dealing with KERS and Badoer was just past-it. Massa was able to drive the Ferrari fine whereas Raikonnen only turned it on following Massa's accident.
I think the welcoming of yet another World Champion on the grid line up can only be a positive. At times he's mesmerising when he's 'on it' other days it seems like he's carrying a hangover from the night before and merely making up the numbers... That's what I like about him, his somewhat unpredictability and potential raw pace that's almost Hamiltonesque at times...
He can be bleeding quick at times no doubt, I just wonder how often he will be in the zone when he's in a midfield car, likely to be fighting for low points finishes (at best). The way he finished the 2008 season was pretty spectactular so let's hope he can apply himself to achieve the max he can. Looking further down the line, 2013, if he was to impress next season maybe a call from Ferrari would be on the cards....That must be motivation for him!!
When I read that Kimi was coming back and that he had his motivation back, my gut feeling was that he meant it. After all, if he wanted to be back racing against other cars on track but still didn't want to be involved in the PR days and the politics, he could have easily tried other forms of track racing like WTCC, DTM etc. I think this will be good, provided Boullier doesn't arse it up.
Not having a go at you, and going slightly off topic, but people slate Grosjean for not being able to match Alonso when he came in that season, despite having no F1 experience, but people make excuses for Fisi being ****e despite having 13 years of F1 experience when he moved. This.
I don't agree with that when Hamilton is on it when he is on it he can murder nearly anyone. Raikkonen is a fantastic driver but his lazyness makes me feel like he doesn't believe he can be even faster.
Yes, ha should have reworded it. On the topic of that I think anyone that thinks he could kill someone by his driving has mental problems. How stupid can someone get by saying that? I had respect for Niki but I lost it all when he said that.
