I don’t think there’s been a more highly rated driver in recent memory that I feel more indifferent about than Kimi Räikkönen.
Yes, I am fully aware of the risks to my person for publicly showing anything but gratitude for the very presence of this monosyllabic Finn, but some risks are worth taking.
I am totally, utterly, 100 per cent 50/50 on Kimi Räikkönen.
He can be great entertainment value – paradoxically, mind you, by doing and saying so very little – but is his presence at the top of the Formula One tree really warranted? Put down your pitchforks and let’s consider.
First, credit must be awarded where it’s due, and Räikkönen is obviously owed recognition for winning the 2007 world championship. It may have needed McLaren teammates Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton to publicly feud for much of the season and then for Felipe Massa to let his Ferrari teammate by at the Brazilian Grand Prix to make it happen, but hey, Formula One is a numbers game. Titles have been won with less.
That title came in his seventh year. Before that historic season, just as has been the case since, he has thrived on a combination of untimely toilet breaks, spontaneous episodes of sleep, and magnum ice creams – meaningless sin the hands of mere mortals, but transformed into a potent combination for success in the possession of the Ice Man.
That Kimi does have such pedigree makes his two year (enforced) sabbatical from Formula One even more bizarre. He spent his 24 months away from open wheel racing largely upside-down and being dehydrated in NASCAR, yet still provoked sufficient excitement by the end of it to land a competitive seat with Lotus.
The passage of time did not and has not faded the Räikkönen myth, and the physical manifestation of the no-dancing, no-singing Finn has similarly persisted.
But pop culture and snapback hat value aside, why has Kimi’s magic kept Formula One spellbound for so long?
Though his results when racing in the low-pressure Lotus environment were promising, his performance in the Ferrari big leagues since his return have been lukewarm at best. Räikkönen was pummelled by Fernando Alonso last season, and he’s on his way to being similarly picked apart by Sebastian Vettel this year.
He was totally at sea last year. While the terminally dispirited Fernando Alonso was able to put the underwhelming 2014 Ferrari on the podium twice, Räikkönen five times failed to finish in the points on the way to scoring just over a third of the Spaniard’s points.
The Finn was, to some degree, able to hide behind the flaws of the car. While Alonso has earnt the unfortunate reputation of extracting something beyond the maximum of poorly-built cars, Räikkönen has always been known as the opposite. If the car isn’t finely balanced and attuned to his driving style, the Finn flounders. Though the size of the points disparity raised eyebrows, the true believers held out hope.
But 2015 is proving too loud for even the staunchest of Räikkönen fans to ignore. The car is as close as any has ever been to a match with the Mercedes leaders, and Räikkönen himself praised the steps taken over the summer to deliver an utterly drivable car.
What’s more, Ferrari has purported that the styles of Räikkönen and Vettel have significant overlap, meaning the development of the car through the year should be largely suiting both drivers.
The projection bears little resemblance to the reality.
Five podiums to one. One win to nil. The only blight on Vettel’s copybook was a strangely untidy Bahrain Grand Prix, while at all other races Räikkönen has had no answer to Vettel’s superior pace in the same machinery.
Yes, Ferrari has tendency to prefer teams comprising a first, dominant driver and a second, subservient one – but with Mercedes setting the bar without having to compromise its driver line-up, Ferrari is forcing itself to fight with one hand behind its back.
But then is it little wonder it finds itself in this position? In truth Räikkönen was signed in a panic, when the Scuderia’s former management team of Luca Montezemolo and Stefano Domenicali though Alonso was about to pull the plug before it would have the opportunity to lure Sebastian Vettel away from Ferrari. It was only ever a marriage of convenience – and the Finn is looking less convenient by the race.
Maurizio Arrivabene’s short statement after the Austrian Grand Prix left no doubt as to where he considers the future of the team lies.
“Which positives can we take from this weekend? Not many, but certainly once more we are aware that Sebastian was the big asset we could get this year,” was the opening line. It failed to mention Räikkönen throughout.
Kimi Räikkönen has made an undoubted contribution to Formula One, and he deserves as much respect as any winner of the world championship – but in 2015, it might be time for the Finn to fly on.
Chitaransh
Guest
I do not understand why Raikkonen fans behave like Apple fanboys. The truth is that he was very very lucky to win the 2007 championship. Alonso or Hamilton should have been the champion that year and not Raikkonen. Was he not helped by Massa to secure the championship? At best he is an overrated driver because it seems 'cool' to support someone with a 'dont care attitude..'. I'd even go to the extent of saying that if Maldonado stays in the sport for an extended period of time he would have less crashes than Raikkonen.
Michael Lamonato
Expert
I struggle to comprehend how you might consider Bottas, Hulkenberg, or Ricciardo drivers who are still "cutting their teeth". Regardless, if you consider them too young and unproven, then it's no great leap to consider Raikkonen too old and past it. By that same token I assume you also called Kimi deeply unqualified to be promoted to McLaren after a single year racing in F1? I'm not sure what you mean by "parasite from Kimi's hard work" either, given that it would hardly be controversial to say that both Alonso and Vettel have contributed more to the development of the car in their respective seasons as Kimi's teammates given the significantly better results each of them delivered. I can only assume that Jenson Button earnt a similar amount of scorn from you in his first five winless years, or perhaps his first nine years without a title? Though you tried to suggest otherwise in your first comment, you arguments seem to be entirely predicated on Kimi Raikkonen somehow operating at 100 per cent of his youthful best, when that is obviously not the case. I do not assume he is not hungry for success — he wouldn't be driving otherwise — but knowing you're within sight of the end of your career combined with having the perspective that comes with having already climbed the mountain undoubtedly takes some of the edge off. I reiterate: Raikkonen is deservedly considered amongst all of the sport's champions, but that doesn't mean he can't be over the hill.
Mark Young
Roar Guru
Oh I can see your dilemma. I am so undecided on him. When i was a kid i LOVED him, and thought he was the man, as I got older I admired Senna more, but boy, the way Mansell took it guys on the track! Some of his wins at Silverstone were just epic.
Mark Young
Roar Guru
Baa Haa HAA!!!!!!
Bamboo
Guest
This is the man who once muttered "I can't speak, I'm unconscious" over the radio.
Jim
Guest
I was being tongue in cheek. I know everybody loved to complain about him - maybe it was his gruff manner - but his career was very successful and he was highly ranked by lots of commentators as well as holding a number of records. From Wikipedia: "His career in Formula One spanned 15 seasons, with his final two full seasons of top-level racing being spent in the CART series. Mansell is the second most successful British Formula One driver of all time in terms of race wins with 31 victories, and is seventh overall on the Formula One race winners list behind Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. He held the record for the most number of poles set in a single season, which was broken in 2011 by Sebastian Vettel. He was rated in the top 10 Formula One drivers of all time by longtime Formula One commentator Murray Walker. In 2008, ESPN ranked him 24th on their top drivers of all-time. He was also ranked No. 9 of the 50 greatest F1 drivers of all time by the Times Online on a list that also included such drivers as Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark." Pretty impressive!
cece
Guest
Again - why do you see Ferrari - the legendary team - as a shelter for homeless waifs trying to cut their teeth on the sport? Ferrari has a driver that has proven he can take the title in Vettel - and historically they've only had 1. However, many of us feel Kimi will recover, so why shouldn't he have the chance? Why does the great Ferrari need to feed these "hungry for success" drivers? The ones you name are in teams that were at the top - let them prove they can help a team get back there rather than parasite from Kimi's hard work in Ferrari and jump into a better car, leaving their own teams to suffer. Hulk is in a different situation, but 1 Lemans win with teammates is hardly a hefty endorsement when he's been given a 5 year opportunity to show what he can do. And am I correct in reading your implication that Kimi is not hungry for success? How would you know this?
Mark Young
Roar Guru
You know what, I would agree with you, but I just rewatched the 1989 and 1990 seasons on DVD, and Mansell was pretty damn incredible. Senna described him as the only driver he never managed to psychologically dominate. Then I remember all the whining and sooking, and yes, maybe he does belong in the first group!
Jim
Guest
I think you have Mansell in the wrong group :) I would be inclined to place him with the first lot in your post.
Mark Young
Roar Guru
I suspect he will be remembered in a similar vein to Jenson Button, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve and Keke Rosberg. Very good drivers, who won championships by being in the right place at the right time. No more talented then a David Coutlhard, Mark Webber, Felipe Massa, Gehard Berger of Reubens Barichello. But not at the same level as Sebastian, Alonso, Schumi, Fernando, Prost, Mansell or Senna. You hit the nail on the head Michael when you remember the panic with which they signed Kimi. In a peverse way he is the biggest winner from Robert Kubica's terrible accident, had the Poll been healthy there is no way Kimi would have ended up at Ferrari.
Jim
Guest
My apologies. I missed his NASCAR experience completely - brief as it was! As a fan of Kimi's over the years, I will be sorry to see him go but unless he can show a dramatic improvement over the remainder of the season, it will be perfectly understandable if Ferrari let him go.
Michael Lamonato
Expert
"When he isn't retiring" is a beautiful sentence. I just don't think it's worth Ferrari investing further in a Raikkonen already sounds disinterested in his racing future when Ricciardo, Bottas, or Hukenberg, are of all huge talent, small price and undoubted hunger. Raikkonen's a big name and switched on on his day, but he loses on that comparison.
Michael Lamonato
Expert
I appreciate the detailed argument, but I have to disagree. You're right to say he's no original Kimi — the title-winning, feisty Finn — and you're exactly right. Not only that, though, but he's not performing on a level that justifies his position at a top team over a younger driver trying to break into the top tier of the sport. Why have twilight Raikkonen when you could have a Ricciardo, Bottas, or Hulkenberg, all of whom have undoubted hunger for success? I'm not doubting that Raikkonen is a great, but even the greats falter eventually.
Michael Lamonato
Expert
I tend to agree with you in this respect. I don't find his behaviour so offensive, but — to use a classic Kimi argument — I wonder about his motivation. Not necessarily on the base level of wanting to get out there and win, but the way he talks about his career and future in the sport makes you wonder whether he's really got that hunger relative to some of the younger talented guys.
Michael Lamonato
Expert
Largely, but he also competed in one NASCAR race. If you click the link in the article — the one that says NASCAR — you'll be taken to a page referring to his time in NASCAR...
Jim
Guest
Kimi's time away from F1 was spent in WRC and not NASCAR.
tim
Guest
Kimmi no doubt are the most talented driver we have seen for long time. Alonso, Vettel of course are epic drivers too, but three of them are more or less at same level but with different driving style. The woe of Kimmi had in Ferrari, it is not as simple as bad luck, burn tires, late pit out for quail etc, we can be suspicious of something is smelly there. Interesting to note, the crash at Austria, we never seen Alonso's on board camera of showing how the crash really happened. WHY? WHY? WHY? F1 sports is losing its charm, getting slow, too much regulations. The car performance and engineer plays more prominent role than driver. The driver are there just for the show and commercial purpose.
Joop deBruin
Guest
EXACTLY! Kimi's talent level is at best, nowhere better than mid-pack of this season's drivers.
Simoc
Guest
I don't think Ferrari will want Kimi next season and I doubt he would go to any other team. He has been an overall failure, compared to expectations, since returning. He is to expensive for a number 2 driver.
Lambo
Guest
Hi Michael, I agree with you 100%. I was always a Kimi fan but not anymore. Not because of his results last 2 years but his attitude which is frankly disgusting. Its a drivers job to set the car up by working with engineers. Constantly complaining and not giving shit about everything might earn him fanboys but real F1 fans won't like that attitude. For me Kimi was best from 2002-06 Mclaren time after that its like he's in F1 because Ferrari are stupid to pay him so much which he simply doesn't deserve. Hope to see Hulk in his seat next year.