Kimi Raikkonen returns to F1 with Lotus F1 Team

[icemaid]

Thank you Kimi!!!

Now F1 2012 has a whole new meaning!

[Petar]

raikkonen had more difficulties in 2009 than before in his career in F1 so far. later that year ferrari decide to bring alonso in 2010 despite raikkonen's signature for the same season. alonso got the drive and raikkonen still was payed for staying at home.

here is the situation in 2008. massa was and still is second driver in ferrari and he was +20 points ahead of raikkonen and also the same number of point's with bmw sauber - kubica.



in 2009 he was much down the order. the only good thing for him was that this time massa was behind him.



note that massa had an accident in hungary after he was not able to complete the whole season.



[source]

Räikkönen drove in 2009 what effectively turned out to be Ferrari's worst car for a decade (on par with the 2005 one maybe). After a difficult first few races, his results flattered the car more often than not, and he delivered some commanding drives: four straight podium finishes (including his Spa win), and a great recovery drive at Interlagos after a couple early hardships. So I expect he should be right on the pace as long as Lotus doesn't provide him with a NASCAR truck.

here what kovalainen said about raikkonen's return to F1



[source]

[Auni]

RED LATTER DAY!!! Thank you God! Thank you Kimi! I love you guys! I love everyone now! OMG!!!

[François]

@Petar

Hmm. 2007-08-09 (first half) were pretty much the only years since the 90's where there was no clear number 1 and number 2 drivers at Ferrari. Räikkönen beat Massa in 2007, Massa beat him in 2008 (a season of ups and downs really, definitely not Räikkönen's best driving). What do I see on your 2009 table? That he, driving as I said a Ferrari car which, as I said, was basically a truck, and no better than 4th best over the whole season, finished just one point behind Hamilton who had a much, much better car in his hands from Nürburgring on. A long way back from the Brawn and RBR drivers but you know as well as I do that those packages were pretty much unbeatable in the first and second halves of the season respectively. Point being: Räikkönen drove well in 2009, and I believe he can do so right away in 2011.

ALSO: Ferrari absolutely wanted to bring Alonso in. Kimi's 2009 results had nothing to do with it, in fact I remember quite well that it was embarrassing for Ferrari, they didn't follow the tradition of announcing the following year's line-up at Monza because how do you justify firing someone who's fighting for podiums and winning races in a crappy car? Point being, Ferrari wanted Alonso and just had to show somebody the exit; much like they wanted Räikkönen for 2007 and urged Schumacher into retirement despite the very strong 2006 campaign he drove.

In a nutshell: the points tables don't tell the full story. Please get your facts straight if you're going to be critical of somebody's driving.

[Petar]

@François

2009 ferrari (truck) car also drove massa and till the accident he was 12 point's ahead of rakkonen and also 5 places ahead on the second 2009 drivers table.
also if kimi was able to bring maximum from the car like massa, he wouldn't be knocked out for 2010!

2008 and 2009 was disaster for raikkonen. it was disaster from his side 2008 and 2009, and from the car 2009.

[phil1993]

2008 - Kimi was set for world title 2, but then had a string of bad races in Monaco/Canada - Monaco he made a mistake like the other front runners did but he didn't get away with it; Canada he was taken out by Lewis. France he had to let Massa through after the exhaust failed. In Britain the F2008 was hopeless in the wet yet he still managed 4th. Europe the engine failed, Spa he gave his all and lost it when pushing 100%, because again the F2008 was hopeless. He annihilated Massa that weekend. In China he had to let Massa through and in Brazil he was second fiddle all weekend. Add to that a car that was totally unsuited to him, totally suited to Massa & a Ferrari team who didn't help him with his qualifying problems mid-season and I think finishing 22 points behind his team mate is pretty reasonable.

Massa was good in 2009, but Kimi was exceptional in the second half of the season. The F60 was utterly hopeless as Ferrari abandoned development. But for a few races in Singapore & AD, he was right up there.

[donald29]

"in Brazil he was second fiddle all weekend."

He couldn't beat Massa there anyway even if he'd been able to attack him. He couldn't beat Alonso in the race and was outpaced by Massa who had to back off for him there back in 2007. He may not have liked the suspension or whatever, but at the end of the day Massa was usually quicker in 2008.

Massa was great in 2009. Really superb. I don't see how you can say Massa was only good but Kimi was exceptional. Massa outperformed him in the first half then never got a chance in the second... Look at China, he was passing cars with less fuel and on for a podium until his engine failed. Then drives to 4th and 3rd in Britain and Germany after being knocked out in Q2. Ferrari were expecting him to fight for the win in Hungary based on his pace in practice. It was only after Massa's injury that Raikkonen started performing so well. But he did perform very well in that second half.

[NewF1Boy]

Boullier says Kimi will be in the simulator once their new one goes online.

[dindi]

LOL. And we all know how Kimi loves 'em simulators. He's gonna have to get a barf bag from the plane.

[Kriss]

LOL. And we all know how Kimi loves 'em simulators. He's gonna have to get a barf bag from the plane.

maybe he misses the simulators too

[frubbs]

lets not look only to the numbers! they lie! like François said, they "don't tell the full story".

I think it is pointless to analyse kimi numbers, because we can watch a race and identify the talent in a driver. and he has it !

In other hand, it is very interesting to think about how will Kimi deal with F1 changes so far... tyres, drs, kers...

I am not sure he will be successfull in his return, but it is about re-adaptation , not about 2008/2009 results...

[Mar]

LOL. And we all know how Kimi loves 'em simulators. He's gonna have to get a barf bag from the plane.

Or a box full of anti-carsickness pills
I was absolutely amazed when I read he was going to use the simulator really...

[phil1993]

[frubbs]

Vettel has an opinion:

"We have all seen Michael's (Schumacher) comeback,"
"I can imagine it would be very difficult to return straight away to the same level as before."

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/ ... raikkonen/

[iceman1]

We've uploaded Various news from the Finnish and English channels concerning the return of Raikkonen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vHijpQ0EVs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdqqWlTrEA4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcKkEb2ORxs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLsAK59J6EA