Kimi Räikkönen

Probably one of the coolest drivers ever to grace F1 alongside James Hunt.

His part life-style may not have been to some teams liking in F1 but you can't deny that Kimi was probably one of the best drivers on the grid from 2003-09. He should have won more championships than he did!

Kimi won his one and only F1 Championship in 2007. Kimi won 18 races, 16 pole positions, scored 62 podiums and claimed 35 fastest laps in his time in F1.

Kimi is probably the must unluckiest driver to ever grace F1 and the amount of retirements he had no fault of his own were lots.

Kimi won his first GP in 2003 winning the Malaysian GP and he claimed his last victory in F1 at the 2009 Belguim GP.

Kimi started his F1 career in 2001 driving for Sauber, he then went on to drive for Mclaren and Ferrari before quitting the sport in 2009.

Kimi produced probably the 2 most funniest moments to happen in F1 over the last 10 years, when he said at the Brazilian GP in 2006 when Schumi first retired from F1 and the other one at the Malaysian GP where the race was red flagged and he went to the garage and got into shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops and started eating ice-cream.

Whether you liked him or not you can't deny his talent, he produced one of the comebacks of the past 10 season by starting near the back of the Japan GP in 2005 and went on to win it! Probably one of his best race wins in F1.

Did you like Kimi or Not?

 

[F1ang-o]

I could easily say that about Raikkonen who had a slow puncture and his big margin was chopped away in the closing stages.

But he didn't finish the race........he went into the wall.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

It's true that the rain played into McLaren's hands and weakened the Ferrari which - at that phase of 2008 - had a tough time generating heat into it's tyres in cooling/dampening conditions.

But Raikkonen was nursing a slow puncture too.

In the end Kimi made a mistake and it was borne out of the fact that he simply wasn't interested in anything else but winning the race given his WDC positioning.

His title defence was on the line. Either he was going to take 4 points out of Massa (1st - 3rd)...or it was going to end in a DNF.

Instead of taking 4 points from Massa he lost 10 thanks to Felipe' being promoted after the event following Lewis' time penalty.

14 points in 1-and-a-half laps was a HUGE "swing" Kimi-to-Felipe and that was where the WDC was decided for the Ferrari drivers (in terms of orders). After the Belgian GP/decision, The Scuderia had no choice but to back Massa against Hamilton.

They chose the wrong guy to begin with, IMO. If they'd catered to Raikkonen with respect to the front end back in the Spring, it could have been a different story.

Kimi was the more talented driver.

 

[Quintessentially]

Yeah but Massa was driving very well too, let's not forget he effectively gifted Kimi the championship the year before. Kimi lost his head after that infamous incident with Hamilton at Spa and the crash was inevitable. I think he had some untimely DNFs too during the season which compromised his championship (re-Kimi).

 

[RasputinLives]

So you don't think his 9th place in Italy might have had something to do with it as well? He started in front of Lewis and finished 2 places behind him without scoring any points. He did get the fastest lap of the race though - in fact he got many fastest laps in 08 but never seem to have the result to show for it

For me Kimi ended his title challenge in 2008 by throwing it in the wall at Singapore meaning he failed to score points for 3 races on the trot.

He was good that season but just not consistant enough.

 

[Slyboogy]

That was mainly due to the rain though.

And you know that how?

Massa wasn't losing that much time to Hamilton was he? Infact both drivers where catching Raikkonen at a fast rate of knots...

But he didn't finish the race........he went into the wall.

He may have put into the wall, but Hamilton got penalised for his mistake, so if you can say that "Hamilton would have won because of this...." then someone can easily say the same about Raikkonen's situation.

 

[MCLS]

Well Kimi was controlling the race until it started raining

 

[Slyboogy]

It was actually a fair few laps before...

 

[MCLS]

Well that incident happened when it was raining and Kimi crashed the lap after

 

[Lewywo4]

But he didn't finish the race........he went into the wall.

This video shows a terrific on board scrap between Lewis and Kimi,during that thrilling battle between the 2 at the 2008 Belgian GP, and that unhappy ending for Kimi in the wall!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xg2dl7_f1-belgium-2008-lewis-hamilton-kimi-raikkonen-scrap_auto

 

[Cookinflatsix]

Lewis/Kimi would have been a true dream team

Shame Kimi did not take up the challenge

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

Kimi/Lewis WERE the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix.

Felipe was a backgrounder.

Funny how the Brazilian ended up with the 10 points after being invisible the entire event.

 

[RasputinLives]

Just another example of cheating Ferrari. Invisible cars should be banned. I'm sure its a drivers aid

 

[F1ang-o]

And you know that how?

Massa wasn't losing that much time to Hamilton was he? Infact both drivers where catching Raikkonen at a fast rate of knots...

He may have put into the wall, but Hamilton got penalised for his mistake, so if you can say that "Hamilton would have won because of this...." then someone can easily say the same about Raikkonen's situation.

To win a race....you have to finish....I love Kimi....everthing about him...Great Bloke & fantastic racer.
Lewis.......after a fantastic start.. pulled out a great lead straight away. Then he had a spin & though he was on his way again, by the time Kimi reached him....KR had the momentum to pass him.... LH was penalised for his mistake..... by spending most of the race chasing KR.
The ridiculous post race penalty was

 

[Quintessentially]

Shame Kimi did not take up the challenge

That ridiculous Ferrari severance package may have had something to do with it. Given the financial rewards, I’m not surprised he took the easy way out. Anyway, once it became obvious Jenson was an option, Whitmarsh closed the door. Jense was also cheaper, Bri’ish and more sponsor friendly.
I have bad memories of Kimi in the Mac and I’m glad it never happened. He probably would’ve won the WDC if not for reliability issues.

 

[F1ang-o]

This video shows a terrific on board scrap between Lewis and Kimi,during that thrilling battle between the 2 at the 2008 Belgian GP, and that unhappy ending for Kimi in the wall!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xg2dl7_f1-belgium-2008-lewis-hamilton-kimi-raikkonen-scrap_auto

Amazing.......I was shouting..."don't get it on the painted lines".....briliant racing!

 

[Cookinflatsix]

He may have put into the wall, but Hamilton got penalised for his mistake, so if you can say that "Hamilton would have won because of this...." then someone can easily say the same about Raikkonen's situation.

But Hamilton did actually win, the penalty came after the win. Different from saying Kimi could have won when he didnt get to the end

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

Kimi drove the Peugeot 908 Le Mans car at Aragon today and said it was "a really fun car to drive":

http://peugeot-media.com/index.php?nav=735&action=view&communique_id=114&langue=en

Peugeot said this:

"He adapted very quickly to the car and gave us a valuable technical feedback. It is always interesting to get inputs from drivers such as Kimi."

This guy is a throw back. F1 cars, Rallying, NASCAR and now Le Mans prototypes!

Talk about having a blast and a load of fun in the world of global motorsports!

By the way, Kimi is only one of 3 drivers to score points in all WRC rallies entered in 2011.

Not bad.

 

[Slyboogy]

But Hamilton did actually win, the penalty came after the win. Different from saying Kimi could have won when he didnt get to the end

Which happens when something gets investigated a few laps before the end...

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

Ok so we've had the GP and I think it's safe to maintain the declaration of:

Kimi, Still The Most Recent King Of Spa!

 

[RasputinLives]

Kimi - king of the big wages