Assuming Kubica comes back, I wouldn't agree that they'll be the best partnership, not in 2012 anyway. Both have been out of F1 for too long for it to not have affected them a little. However, once they are both given the chance to get match fit, I think they could have a partnership to match Hamilton and Button but it'll take a year or two. Whether they have the car to benefit from that partnership is entirely in the lap of the design team at Lotus.
I don't think Kubica will be in F1 in 2012 he will have to wait for 2013 and I don't think he will ever get close to how good he was before, Raikkonen has been out for 2 years and has no refueling ban experience or pirreli experience so he is an unkown quantity In the extremely unlikely scenario Kimi turns out the be the McLaren Raikkonen we all knew and Kubica returns and has his 2010 level of fitness and F1 skill then they will be an absolutley awesome pair and will flatter that car untill it blushes redder than the ferrari's but that isn't very likely
the only major rule change that kimi raikk has missed is the no refueling , for any world class driver that is never going to be a handycap , will agree that the kubica situation is up in the air at the minuite , i would probally agree that barring kubica starting 2012 mclaren have the best driver partnership , both mclaren drivers have there flaws but in fairness when both of them are on the bubble they drive at a fairly consistant level --
Kubica is coming back from one of the most serious incidents in motorsport since Lauda's fire. One look at Massa will prove how long it takes to recover. I highly doubt that Kubica will be on the starting grid. As for Raikkonen, he can be as fit as he likes, he has to deal with getting back into the swing of single-seater racing, KERS, DRS, Pirellis. That and he was poor when he left in 2009, and is notoriously bad at self-motivation.
i agree about kubica , as nobody knows if he will get the full movement back in his hands , if he does then who knows , lets not forget kimi raikk is a world class driver , do you honestly think he wont have the nous to flick a couple of switches for his KERS ( that he also had in 2009) and the DRS , must admit the pirelli"s may take a bit longer for him to get used to , i think the pre season testing will probally sort that out for him --
Actually I think the best thing for Kubica would be to fully write off 2012 right now and focus on fully healing, then when he is fully healed become Pirreli test driver untill 2013 and put in as many kilometers as they will allow. That way he can regain confidence, get fit, and put in the mileage and get rid of the rust outside of the spotlight where he can't be measured against someone else. He would also become fairly handy with the Pirelli tyres.
Two drivers that were very good, the word being were. Theres no guarantee that the drivers will be as good as they used to be. This could be due to absence, injuries, rule changes, whatever. The "team" to beat at the moment is the McLaren boys, you could argue that Ferrari's 1,2 policy is alright but Massa is too far off Alonso in fairness. Vettel and Webber have been a good partnership this year too, but I feel Webber isn't quite up to the standard of who ever is number 2 at McLaren by next year.
No. He used to be one. Time will tell if he still is. I think that the DRS and KERS are things to get used to after rallying, and the different styles will throw him for quite a while.
he had kers in 2009, drs should be easy enough. Its the refuel ban and the pirellis that will be the challenge
do you honestly believe KR has had a talent bypass in two yrs , if you can drive you can drive , no driver is going to forget how to drive a F1 car in two yrs , while i suppose it is just possible that raikk may need a couple of races to adapt to the pirelli"s however with the pre season testing that he will do i have my doubts if that will even be an issue for him come march 18th , as for the KERS and DRS , seriously how hard can it be for one of the best drivers in the world to come to grips with 80 more bhp for six seconds every lap or a 13 kmh advantage on the strait when passing another car when using his DRS --
Is 'Kubica / Raikkonen potentially the partnership with most to prove next season' not a more apt title to this thread? One driver whose been out for 2 seasons and another one returning from a serious injury, surely that poses more questions than anything else?
We'll find out next year. One of the legends of the sport returned last year and after 2 years he's not beat his team mate. Things change rapidly in F1 and a 0.1s loss is a lot, he may well be rapid, but thats nothing more than a guess right now, he's not even had a go in the car yet
Whilst others have written off the comparison with Schumacher, I think it is quite relevant here. In the mid-2000's, when both of them were roughly at their peak, both of them were clearly world class drivers. During Schumacher's hiatus (IIRC), he never raced seriously, so his skills may have been blunted slightly. On his return, Schumacher had to deal with KERS, DRS, new tyres, and therefore cars handling completely differently. Sure, it took him a fair few races to adjust, but he is now showing himself to be a capable member of the grid. I wouldn't say he is in the same league he used to be, nor in the same league as Vettel, Button, Alonso et al, but he's still keeping Rosberg honest, and showing he deserves his seat. Now Raikkonen, who already understands KERS, and has spent the last couple of seasons in a variety of different classes of motorsport. If anything, experiencing different types of racing may have sharpened his skill set. Whilst I understand the sports to be nearly completely separate, I would imagine some of the skills developed in rallying translate to wet running in F1, and in america drafting is a much more crucial skill, so you would expect development in that area too. Coming back, you'd have to assume he is still physically fit enough, and that (unlike Schumacher) the unavoidable effects of ageing haven't kicked in to the same degree. I certainly wouldn't expect Raikkonen to be particularly competitive over the first half of 2012, but when he begins to become attuned to the car (and tyres) underneath him, I think we can begin to see some of the old form back, particularly if his motivation really is there.
Some interesting points here. Firstly, I think that the best pairing currently is Hamilton/Button, but Alonso/Hamilton would be better. When they were both racing in F1 I always had high regard for Kimi and Kubica. Others did not. Put them both in a Ferrari then they would have been awesome. However, Kubica did not seem to catch the eyes of the top teams. Kubica always told his engineers what to do rather than the engineer having to instruct the driver what to do. On the subject of changing technology – it has no effect on drivers using it for the first time. It can have an effect on drivers having to change from one thing to another. For example, some drivers struggled adapting from slicks to grooves and some struggled adapting from grooves to slicks. Other drivers have struggled when the team switches between the two brake suppliers. But when KERS and DRS were introduced then all the drivers were in the same boat and I did not witness any driver struggling with the new regulations. Kubica had a potential problem with KERS because of his height. But ignoring the absence of both drivers from F1 what exactly are their talents that would make them the best pairing? What talents of drivers are required by a team to ensure that they have the best pairing?
thats why i put the word "potentially "in my topic salmon , i can see why people may have an issue with kubica because of his hand , but i cannot honestly see any logic in doubting that raikkonen will be up to speed by march 18th with the amount of simulator work and pre season testing that he will be doing before that date -
We're not saying he'll be slow or forget how to drive, but i just dont think he will have that final tenth at first.
Too many question marks for my liking artist. For the best partnership on the grid next year, I'd have the tried and tested combo of Button / Hamilton over those two until proved otherwise
fully agree with you salmon that why i used the word potentially as much depends on the movement and dexterity in kubica"s hand , in fairness i probally would agree about the mclaren drivers , at the moment i suppose nobody can reasonably argue that both do not have there flaws but in the cold light of day you also have to say they will probally be the most consistant partnership next year , however much will depend on the progress mercedes and ferrari make with there new cars as consistancy is very often determined by car performance --
you have to remember the heavy reputation that kimi raikk had before he left mclaren as he was generally regarded as the quickest driver in F1 quicker than even the great schumacher at the time , kubica forged his reputation on over achieving with cars that were not competitive , the 2010 R30 being a prime example , in general he very often finished higher up than it was ever designed too -- hence why i personally feel that as a pairing they have the potential to be very effective if kubica"s hand allows him to race in 2012 --
