It is as unpopular a conclusion as it is a painfully objective one: Kimi Räikkönen, the 2007 Formula One world champion, just doesn’t cut it in 2016.
Much consideration was given to this column, though not because the conclusion isn’t sound. Rather, because the one-time bearer of the ‘Flying Finn’ moniker has amassed such a following that he is something of a protected species.
The reason for this has always been elusive. Once he was undoubtedly among the sport’s quickest, capable of some astonishing drives – including at that 2005 Japanese Grand Prix – but those days have long passed the 36-year-old.
Is it that this age of anti-establishmentarianism, evidenced in politics, extends to sport and has lent Räikkönen the credibility to wring these extra years from his Formula One career?
Whatever the reason, it mustn’t cloud the evidence: it’s time Ferrari ended its driver’s superannuation tour.
The most important reason is that, simply, he isn’t performing, and he hasn’t done so for a surprising amount of time considering his grip on one of the sport’s most sought-after seats.
After winning his championship in 2007 – and though no-one doubts Kimi was of championship calibre, the title victory that season was fortuitous in light of McLaren teammates Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso taking points of each other in an open feud – he has been in a steady state of decline.
In 2008 he was comfortably outperformed by Felipe Massa and forced to play the second-driver role in the Brazilian’s own title fight, yet Massa is certainly not held in the same regard as Räikkönen. In 2009, before Massa suffered his midyear accident in Hungary, the Finn was already 12 points behind his teammate.
Was it a problem with motivation? Not according to Räikkönen, who instead complains of being more sensitive to imperfect cars – but arguably this is equally incriminating given the drivers regarded as the sport’s greatest have histories of driving around sub-par machinery.
Whatever the reason, the Finn was dumped in favour of Fernando Alonso for the 2010 season to spend two years in the wilderness, including delivering lukewarm results in the World Rally Championship and dabbling with NASCAR, which mostly involved him complaining his water bottle was empty and that his car was ‘shit’. Needless to say he didn’t set the motorsport world on fire.
His 2012 return with Lotus showed glimmers of hope the Iceman might’ve been back, including victories in Abu Dhabi that year and in Australia in 2013, but despite his uber-consistent performances he fell out with the team two rounds before the end of the season and left.
No matter. Ferrari was convinced and hired him back just four years after paying out his contract.
For Räikkönen fans this is where the biography will end, because in 2014 he finished a career-worst 12th in the drivers championship standings and was trounced by teammate Fernando Alonso to the tune of 106 points.
A change in teammate to Sebastian Vettel and a marked upswing in the car’s performance shrunk the gap, but the German’s amassing of 278 points was almost twice as much as Räikkönen’s 150.
The Finn’s two-year contract ended last year, but Ferrari, bafflingly, chose to give him a one-year extension despite the overwhelming evidence backing the contrary decision.
But the Finn’s underwhelming performances are only part of the need for change. When the flimsy argument for stability might have been justifiable while the technical team was being rebuilt last year, the stated aim of a full-blown title assault is simply incompatible with Räikkönen’s ongoing tenure.
Mercedes, the undeniably dominant force of 2014 and 2015, easily took home both constructors championships because both of its drivers were competitive – Nico Rosberg, twice the runner-up, managed to score 88 per cent (neglecting double points) and 85 per cent of Lewis Hamilton’s score in 2014 and 2015.
Kimi Räikkönen, on the other hand, scored 34 per cent and 54 per cent of his teammate’s totals in those same years – an average of just 44 per cent.
It isn’t enough, and while Ferrari has often favoured having an obvious number-one driver, even Rubens Barrichello in the 2000–04 championship era scored 61 per cent of Michael Schumacher’s points, including two runner-up and one third-place championship finishes.
With former Ferrari junior academy driver Sergio Perez surging this season and with Romain Grosjean growing into his prime years – not to mention the disruptive option of wresting Carlos Sainz out of his one-year Toro Rosso deal to damage Red Bull’s driver programme – there is no justifiable reason to retain Kimi Räikkönen for a fourth successive year. There is every reason to give a younger driver the chance to push Vettel for all he’s worth.
A contract renewal damages Räikkönen’s legacy as much as it does Ferrari’s championship challenge, and for these reasons Kimi Räikkönen quite simply has got to go.
Follow @MichaelLamonato on Twitter
Red Bull and Max Verstappen vaulted right back to the top of the charts with a win in Suzuka, after his DNF in Melbourne.
Japan Grand Prix has been the most entertaining of the season to date, but Max Verstappen was back to his winning ways.
This season is only four races old, but Fernando Alonso needs to decide on his future beyond this year sooner rather than later. Formula…
It’s a pretty good time to be a Tasmanian sports fan right now. After years in the sporting wilderness with not much to celebrate,…
The question remains where the Australian Grand Prix winner will be in 2025 and whether it’ll be somewhere his value can truly be appreciated.
The author of a new book on Aussie F1 prodigy Oscar Piastri believes the Melbourne driver has what it takes to become Australia’s first…
