Kimi Raikkonen returns to F1 with Lotus F1 Team

[reppo]

I'm not disputing Kimi's driving talent here, I know Raikkonen fans can be very defensive , but this is not Kimi's third finest moment.

Yes. It is Iltasanomat's list. Maybe they had to find something because Kimi won the race and it's the last race he has won so far. But it is nothing like Häkkinen did in Spa. I still enjoy watching that pass from Schumacher. Like in this clip with Mika's comments:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 8459513261
But as Mar says Kimi wasn't using Kers on the dirty run off area. He used it at the start and had a good speed on the corner. Going wide and being careful he could utilize that speed. He could also have crashed if he had been unlucky. But you are right, I wouldn't count that start so high on the list or maybe even to the list at all. The race though is something to remember since it was the only one Ferrari won that year and with a car which otherwise was a underdog.

[reppo]

I had already forgotten how young Kimi looked when he came to F1
Kimi Räikkönen´s first Formula 1 Test Drive 2000

Twelve years later he looks very different in Top Gear

[donald29]

Funny now to think he was only given a Super License provisional for the first few races.

[Mar]

By then BMW and Renault had stopped using KERS. None of the cars he passed had KERS. Using the run off was an advantage there because instead of being tucked up behind Trulli he was able to deploy KERS and blast past, and get a run on Kubica. The Ferrari drivers did the same thing at other points in the season, Raikkonen and Massa both did it at Silverstone on the first corner for example.

I'm not disputing Kimi's driving talent here, I know Raikkonen fans can be very defensive , but this is not Kimi's third finest moment.

We are just saying that he didn't use KERS in the run-off area
I also don't think that the start of that race is Räikkönen's 3rd finest moment.

Funny now to think he was only given a Super License provisional for the first few races.

I never understood Sauber's position in that story; why he went through all that trouble to get the boy racing. It was not just the theatre about the superlicense but the problems with Helmut Marko and Red Bull and the money that meant for Sauber.

I wanted to ask Sauber in Jerez about it, but I didn't dare (even if I had lunch with him one of the days) But I asked Roger Benoit instead.
Benoit is the journalist of Blick and he is a close friend of Sauber. He confirmed me that it was all Michael Schumacher's fault
The day of that first test in 2000 in Italy, Schumacher really went to Sauber when he got out of his car and asked him who was driving the Sauber. He also told Petter Sauber to get the boy under contract immediately. Sauber knows that's not the kind of thing that Schumacher usually does and he offered Räikkönen the contract that same evening. Schumacher's words were also enough for Sauber to go through all the head aches he had to go to have Kimi racing. Benoit also told me that Sauber is such a pig-headed person that Marko's behaviour only made Sauber feel more and more sure about his decision

[donald29]

That's a cool story. It was the start of Red Bull looking to set up their own team as they sponsored Sauber yet didn't get to put the driver they wanted in the car. Marko wanted Sauber to sign Red Bull backed Enrique Bernoldi, but Sauber were insistent on Raikkonen. I think it's obvious which was the better choice.

[sleenster]

Kimi's time on Top Gear

Spoiler:

1:44.0 – Sebastian Vettel
1:44.3 – Rubens Barrichello
1:44.4 – The Stig II (Ben Collins)
1:44.6 – Nigel Mansell
1:44.7 – Lewis Hamilton (wet & oily)
1:44.7 – Jenson Button (hot)
1:44.9 – Jenson Button (falling snow)
1:46.0 – The Stig I (Perry McCarthy)
1:46.1 – Kimi Räikkönen (very wet)
1:46.3 – Damon Hill
1:47.1 – Mark Webber (very wet)

[Kriss]

Kimi Raikkonen Top Gear 2012

[angelsil]

full top gear interview with kimi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35f4rd5qWA0

[iceman1]

Thanks Kriss & angelsil

[donald29]

Was ok, all the funny bits were in that 1 minute preview though.

Kimi didn't seem to understand the Lotus thing and who is was driving for.

[f194girl]

full top gear interview with kimi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35f4rd5qWA0

Thank´s for the link! The livestream didn´t work for me, so I watched it now! Kimi was so funny and relaxed! He showed the scar from the snowmobil injury and now we know, that it was more serious than they told us...

[sleenster]

Yeah that was a seriously big cover up on Kimi and Lotus' part. When the snowmobile accident happened, they acted like he just sprained his wrist

[iceman1]

The full episode of top gear

[Suomileijona]

Guys, thank you very much for the links. So, Kimi's injury was much worce than we expected. Did he have an operation on it? I hope that it is ok now!

[Kriss]

Kimi Raikkonen's return to F1 backed by David Coulthard

Kimi Raikkonen's return to Formula 1 means there will be six world champions on this year's grid, creating an extraordinary depth of talent arguably unrivalled in any other sport.

But when the Finn left Formula 1 in 2009, having won the world title in 2007 with Ferrari, he seemed tired of many aspects of the sport.

Will his absence have boosted his motivation? Can he recapture his former glories? What can he expect to achieve? BBC F1 co-commentator David Coulthard analyses the 32-year-old's return.

Were you surprised to hear Kimi was returning to F1?

"When I first heard, I was sceptical as to whether he would be able to reignite his desire to compete at the highest level.

"Then I did an event with him, Sebastian Vettel and some other drivers in Austria last year. We were in every type of motor vehicle you could imagine - motocross, motorbikes and single-seater cars - and he was the first on each of them, and last off. He was even tucked up in bed early.

"He is an enthusiast. He has great skills. He is the kind of guy who if you put him in anything with a motor, he has got the ability to take it to the maximum."

Why do you think he has returned?

"I think the reason he came back was purely a personal one. He wants to enjoy himself and I don't think he's got any greater agenda than that.

"I believe he missed the wheel-to-wheel competition and the buzz it gives you. There is a big difference between setting a great lap time in testing or on a world rally stage and the excitement of sitting on a grid waiting for the lights to go out.

"I had no real interest in driving a grand prix car round a race track just for the sake of chasing a lap time. I only had an interest in going wheel-to-wheel racing because that is the real adrenaline rush.

"Kimi is a racer. That is what he has missed doing having spent time competing in the World Rally Championship."

Will we see a different Kimi in his second career?

"I think there has been been a change in Kimi. Let's not forget that he arrived in F1 when he was 21, which is very young. He has now had a chance to go away and think about things.

"The two years he has spent away from the sport have allowed him to refocus on what he really enjoys doing - and that's racing. I think he'll come back a more mature driver.

"Now I know it's difficult to imagine why an ex-world champion could be the surprise of the season, but I think in this case, Kimi could be just that.

"I've gone from initially being sceptical to now being an absolute believer in his return. It's good for Kimi Raikkonen, it's good for F1 and it should be good for the fans."

Were you surprised when he left F1 at the end of the 2009 season?

"Kimi was released from his contract early to make way for Fernando Alonso at Ferrari. If I'm honest, I think it was a little early for him to leave the sport because he's such a big talent. He is one of the most naturally gifted drivers.

"In his first F1 career, when he raced for Sauber, McLaren and Ferrari, he could go from being asleep just before qualifying to delivering a lap that made your jaw drop. It was just incredible to watch.

"You could say that one World Championship doesn't really do his talent justice but there are guys who were great, great drivers who never got to win a grand prix. Life isn't fair."

How successful can he be?

"If Lotus give him the space to be himself, which is a happy racing driver who isn't required to get bogged down doing things he doesn't enjoy doing, I think he could be better in his second career than he was in his first.

"His results will ultimately come down to the performance of the car. Lotus have shown good form in testing but we won't know if that was showboating for sponsors or genuine pace until we get to Melbourne.

"What I do know is that Lotus have a winning DNA. They are a championship-winning team - having won world titles in their previous guises as Benetton and Renault - so I see no reason why they can't get back to being competitive.

"Can they really challenge Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes? It's difficult to imagine at this moment in time but let's wait and see."

What's special about Kimi?

"He is totally relaxed in his own skin. Kimi is Kimi and he is not going to put on the jazz hands for anybody.

"There is nothing worse for any sport than to have a bunch of clones. You need different personalities and Kimi certainly has his own unique personality."

David Coulthard was talking to Lawrence Barretto.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17346735