Kimi Raikkonen returns to F1 with Lotus F1 Team

[donald29]

I guess we'll never know for certain how close he was to signing for McLaren for 2010, but my point was he's more willing to put up with the stuff he doesn't like now as he missed the stuff he loves. Hence like you say not going to the USA to make money, instead signing for Lotus.

[reppo]

I didn't say Kimi got fed up with racing. I said he got fed up with all the politics in F1 and he has quite clearly said it. Sauber sold him to McLaren, which wasn't a bad thing, but McLaren tried to bend him to what he is not. He was kicked out from Ferrari by Montezemolo, who had dollar signs in his eyes. Could be that without Red Bull and WRC he might have done a deal with McLaren, but we'll never know. Could be that he would have anyway gone racing somewhere else. Lopez has said that he wasn't ready to come back for 2011 season, and if he had come, it would only had been for money. However according Lopez Kimi's plans for last year was quite clearly already done. I hope Lotus (or what ever it might be called in the future) remains to be a good team for Kimi

[donald29]

I'm not saying he got fed up with racing. He got fed up with other stuff, like you say. I think we're in agreement here.

[Hamer]

I didn't say Kimi got fed up with racing. I said he got fed up with all the politics in F1 and he has quite clearly said it. Sauber sold him to McLaren, which wasn't a bad thing, but McLaren tried to bend him to what he is not. He was kicked out from Ferrari by Montezemolo, who had dollar signs in his eyes. Could be that without Red Bull and WRC he might have done a deal with McLaren, but we'll never know. Could be that he would have anyway gone racing somewhere else. Lopez has said that he wasn't ready to come back for 2011 season, and if he had come, it would only had been for money. However according Lopez Kimi's plans for last year was quite clearly already done. I hope Lotus (or what ever it might be called in the future) remains to be a good team for Kimi

Yep he got fed up with F1 politics (rumours and drivers transfers but also the Ferrari/Mclaren scandal) AND unreliable Ferrari car in 2008 and 2009.

I guessed correctly long time ago that Kimi will be back in F1 with Renault team (present Lotus) because they have enough money/stocks.. plus RedBull is top team with Renault engine who might have a look to put Kimi with Seb for season 2013 (IF Webber doesn't deliver this year) and if Kimi , for example, doesn't finish in top 5 this year maybe he has a clause in contract to get moved teams.. few ifs here but i see it plausible.F1 agreements are far away from being simple.

I wish Lotus (Renault) will enough funds and know-how to maintain this speed and development so Kimi doesn't have to change teams but rather stay "home" where he feels relaxed and welcomed as he is. Stay in Lotus and pursuit championship for the next 2-3 years. I highly respect racing drivers winning the races not starting from the front row. And I respect teams who are pretty open about their plans, thoughts, developments- really ice nice stuff from Lotus, until now at least! Loving their livery too, maybe black color could be matt all over instead shiny details

[Omegablue]

He was kicked out from Ferrari by Montezemolo, who had dollar signs in his eyes.

As much as I like and still support Kimi, here I disagree. He was paid ga-millions at Ferrari to be consistently competitive, the arrow head like Michael was, but aside from the second half of 2007, he was inconsistent, and ended up being matched most of the time by a lower paid driver like Massa.

There are things that happen behind closed doors in the paddock that the public will never know, but forced Montezemolo to pay Kimi out. If it was about money, Luca would have kept him with Alonso, and pushed Massa to take the year off due the accident. By having two world champions at Ferrari it would have been a sponsorship's dream. As well with Button recently admitting a link to partner Alonso, clearly Ferrari have no issues with two champions. Since the days of Lauda, Luca has always given his drivers enough chances to prove their worth, and didn't let money become an issuse. Actually he invested a lot to bring the best drivers like Schumacher and then Kimi. But after Kimi failed to fully don the mantle of leadership at the team, Ferrari needed a new fast leading driver, and Alonso was the best option avaliable to them.

Ferrari's racing philosophy is a strong team supporting a leader in the cockpit. Something they lost during the Prost crises, and was brought back by Todt. It's the way Ferrari works best.
Pretty similar like McLaren in always having two of the best drivers, so one will evantually take point. Unfortunately for Kimi it's not his style, and after one of his biggest fans, Todt, left Ferrari, Kimi lost something else in his mindset during 2008.

Kimi would have been more ideal for the Williams team way of racing years ago, where they worked to supply the best car, and not worry about having a leader on the track.

With that 2008 car, the Kimi of 2007 and before would have wrapped up that title well in advance. To blame Luca for Kimi's performance on the track is very baised towards the Fin. The results on the track speak for themselves.

[Hamer]

He was kicked out from Ferrari by Montezemolo, who had dollar signs in his eyes.

Ferrari's racing philosophy is a strong team supporting a leader in the cockpit.

Kimi is not leader type we know right, but it doesn't make him slow driver or what you mean? Maybe if count how many races he failed because of unreliable ferrari? And i think it never supposdd to work perfectly anyway because italiano and finnish are soo different cultures, at work and free time so.
For example finnish driver would never be such a clear driver nr2 helping driver nr1 from very early of season, slaves like Irvine or Barrichello were.
I think that Ferrari should concentrate into drivers developing programme and always have a nr2 young fella if thet like such politics instead of straight forward racing on a track. Also would help maintain italian drivers in F1, would maybe boost Montezemolo s politics campains etc lol

[Omegablue]

He was kicked out from Ferrari by Montezemolo, who had dollar signs in his eyes.

Ferrari's racing philosophy is a strong team supporting a leader in the cockpit.

Kimi is not leader type we know right, but it doesn't make him slow driver or what you mean? Maybe if count how many races he failed because of unreliable ferrari? And i think it never supposdd to work perfectly anyway because italiano and finnish are soo different cultures, at work and free time so.
For example finnish driver would never be such a clear driver nr2 helping driver nr1 from very early of season, slaves like Irvine or Barrichello were.
I think that Ferrari should concentrate into drivers developing programme and always have a nr2 young fella if thet like such politics instead of straight forward racing on a track. Also would help maintain italian drivers in F1, would maybe boost Montezemolo s politics campains etc lol

Not at all saying Kimi is a slow driver. He remains one of the fastests, his fastest lap record is proof of that. By far. The point I'm trying to get through is that Kimi's personality, is more make like that of Nigel Mansel. Right after qualifying, Nigel bolted out of the garage to play golf, while drivers like Senna stayed with the team till late into the night looking over every detail again and again. A driver like Senna motivated more out of the team, like Schumacher, Alonso and Button for example. Kimi is too James Hunt and Nigel Mansel where they only cared about the race day.

Well Ferrari did keep Massa as Kimi's number 2. But Massa for the first half of 2007 was ahead of him. While for most of 2008 Kimi was chasing Massa's tailpipes. And in 2009, up until Massa's accident, Kimi just struggled in keeping ahead of his teammate. Again the races speak for themselves.

And no, the reliability issues everyone eqaully had their share, if anything Massa had more than Kimi in 2008.

Again, I'm not bashing Kimi, I'm a fan of his and my collection says that. However I do recognize that Kimi after a few months into 2008 lost something in his focus. For 20 laps he would do nothing, then sprinted the next 10 laps breaking records, and then faded away. He wasn't consistent. The car wasn't to blame considering a driver not as fast as Kimi, like Massa, nearly won that title.

And it's unfair to blame Luca, and painting him like money greeding man, which isn't true, and when driving the car and committing the errors on the track was Kimi himself.

Kimi was paid a lot of money to at least be consistent. And Massa not earning near his income, was more consistent.

As for Barrichello and Irvine being slaves, that comment is also unfair. Michael at his peak crushed his teammates. And to a certain point that Rubens is a second driver, as if Michael wasn't there, Rubens with number one status would have won a couple of titles in the same Ferrari. His many 2nd and 3rd places in the championships prove that.

Finally since Michael left, Ferrari has aimed in keeping two near equal drivers. They hoped Massa would push Alonso, as he did to Kimi in 2007 which worked. But Alonso is on another level and cleverly took control of the team. Yet as Ferrari tempted Button recently, it means that Alonso was more than fine with that, and clearly it wasn't a money issue for Luca.

Though I totally agree that Ferrari should invest in younger Italian drivers. But, I also feel Luca should remain at Ferrari and stay out of the nation's politics.

[icemaid]

Heard its raining today in Shanghai & probably be the same the rest of the week.
Not good news for Kimi/Lotus, they need a "normal weekend".

[sleenster]

KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN ON THE CHINESE GP: “EIGHTEEN TO GO!”
http://www.lotusf1team.com/Kimi-Raikkon ... se-GP.html

[reppo]

I didn't dump them only because of McLaren. It was also because of their appalling service. When I was in there this week the woman had to get someone else to help her, then when she was filling out a form that needed to be done actually said 'I don't have a clue what I'm doing.' Hardly inspires me with confidence!

Too bad to say that their operations are in line with Ferrari's Ferrari has all the money they need to build an innovative car, but because of their operations they can't. Santander wants all the money people have, but because of their operations they can't. I don't care about Santander but Ferrari should be able to do better. They have changed about everything but Montezemolo, and still no winning car. Byrne can't alone do such miracles specially in so short time. Looks like F2012-B will be a copy of others innovation, but copying others is not the right way to go for Ferrari. I hope B version will be faster. At least Luca has not now gone blaming drivers. Good for him, but I think he should leave.

[reppo]

I'm not saying he got fed up with racing. He got fed up with other stuff, like you say. I think we're in agreement here.

Yes

[reppo]

He was kicked out from Ferrari by Montezemolo, who had dollar signs in his eyes.

As much as I like and still support Kimi, here I disagree. He was paid ga-millions at Ferrari to be consistently competitive, the arrow head like Michael was, but aside from the second half of 2007, he was inconsistent, and ended up being matched most of the time by a lower paid driver like Massa.

Yes that greedy bastard Kimi. He was payed about the same as Alonso gets and yet in three years he only won one WDC and two CWCs. In 2009 after Massa's accident he scored only second most points after Hamilton during end of the season and won Spa, and all with a car which was no longer developed. What a looser ;-)

There are things that happen behind closed doors in the paddock that the public will never know, but forced Montezemolo to pay Kimi out. If it was about money, Luca would have kept him with Alonso, and pushed Massa to take the year off due the accident. By having two world champions at Ferrari it would have been a sponsorship's dream. As well with Button recently admitting a link to partner Alonso, clearly Ferrari have no issues with two champions. Since the days of Lauda, Luca has always given his drivers enough chances to prove their worth, and didn't let money become an issuse. Actually he invested a lot to bring the best drivers like Schumacher and then Kimi. But after Kimi failed to fully don the mantle of leadership at the team, Ferrari needed a new fast leading driver, and Alonso was the best option avaliable to them.

Ferrari's racing philosophy is a strong team supporting a leader in the cockpit. Something they lost during the Prost crises, and was brought back by Todt. It's the way Ferrari works best.
Pretty similar like McLaren in always having two of the best drivers, so one will evantually take point. Unfortunately for Kimi it's not his style, and after one of his biggest fans, Todt, left Ferrari, Kimi lost something else in his mindset during 2008.

Kimi would have been more ideal for the Williams team way of racing years ago, where they worked to supply the best car, and not worry about having a leader on the track.

With that 2008 car, the Kimi of 2007 and before would have wrapped up that title well in advance. To blame Luca for Kimi's performance on the track is very baised towards the Fin. The results on the track speak for themselves.

Ferrari had a leading driver Schumacher, and he stayed as leading driver when Kimi came to Ferrari. The car was not developed to Kimi but more according what Schumacher preferred. Brawn has said that in 2007 Kimi had big problems with tyres, but he worked with the team and got over it. Ross said he respects Kimi how he handled the problem, kept it in the family and solved it. 2008 car was a terrible experience for Kimi. It was not at all how he likes it. Luca Baldisserri said it clearly in summer 2008 that "If our car understeer, one of our driver is dead, but the other can work with it". Understeering car is poison for Kimi. So why didn't they build the car like Kimi wanted. It is anyone's guess, but talking about communication problems is rubbish. Kimi's racing engineers listened him and has said his feedback was exact and good. F60 was better. At least Kimi liked it more than 2008 car, even if it was hard to drive on the limit. Anyway it was not the best car for Kimi - far from that. The difference between McLaren and Ferrari was that when McLaren found out how much oversteering Hamilton can handle - he is probably the best in that - they build the car which suited Lewis. Ferrari did not build a single car which would have suited to Kimi. Nor have managed to do that for Alonso either. You can say what ever you want about me being biased towards Kimi, but I have been Ferrari fan before Kimi was born and before Montezemolo came to Ferrari, since Niki Lauda and Gilles Villeneuve drove for Ferrari. Montezemolo managed to turn around Ferrari's performance, but he is not a miracle man who can do it over and over again. Maybe it is time for him to leave Ferrari "The results on the track speak for themselves."

Now Kimi is in a team which builds the car how driver wants it, and I hope that will show in Kim's results. It looks promising and I hope that continues

Edit: typo fixed (one of them)

[donald29]

Lets see how it goes with Lotus over the course of the season... 2008 they did really well developing the car from uncompetitive to competitive. 2009 not so well. 2010 Kubica was competitive throughout, then 2011 the second half of the season was a disaster.

[reppo]

Both, Räikkönen and Whitmarsh say it was not the money the reason why Kimi did not sign with McLaren for 2010.
I know most of what the F1 people say is usually not true, but taking into consideration that Kimi put money from his own pocket to rally and that he didn't accept a more than profitable contract to race this season in the USA... I do think Kimi and Witmarsh are saying the truth there and the money was not the issue.

Also Kimi did not want to go living full time to US which NASCAR would have required. It looks that every time he can, he runs off to Switzerland. What is it that pulls him there - one Volkswagen umh.. diesel, Ferrari Enzo, Jenni...

[Mar]

Both, Räikkönen and Whitmarsh say it was not the money the reason why Kimi did not sign with McLaren for 2010.
I know most of what the F1 people say is usually not true, but taking into consideration that Kimi put money from his own pocket to rally and that he didn't accept a more than profitable contract to race this season in the USA... I do think Kimi and Witmarsh are saying the truth there and the money was not the issue.

Also Kimi did not want to go living full time to US which NASCAR would have required. It looks that every time he can, he runs off to Switzerland. What is it that pulls him there - one Volkswagen umh.. diesel, Ferrari Enzo, Jenni...

Erm, are you sure it's to Jenni where he runs to when he has a free day?
Last year, when he was not rallying, or doing NASCAR, he was following his motocross team all around Europe or in Finland visiting his mum.

As a matter of fact, I'm sure he spent much more time with his mum than with his wife last year he's turned into a Latin boy!

PS. I can't believe I'm writing about this

PS2. A little note about Räikkönen's working ethic (somebody named it in the previous days, nope, not you Reppo): of all the F1 drivers in Jerez (which includes "working maniacs" like Schumacher, Alonso or Vettel), the only one that was always late for the media meeting after the tests was Kimi, even if his meetings were usually programmed later than most, and he was late because he was debriefing with the engineers much longer than expected. The over-hours of certain drivers and the laziness of Räikkönen is another myth on printed page.