Kimi the loner (will never win a WDC)

[Shalafi]

I think you're reading a bit too much into this, guys. So he left the track. Big deal. Everyone knows Kimi is not a grafter like Michael was. That's not something you get with Kimi. But what you do get with him, and it will stand the team in good stead as the season goes on, is an incredible driving talent. The Ferraris look fastest at the moment, and combining that fantastic car with Kimi's undoubted skill will yield numerous wins for Kimi this year, and a possible WDC. The fact that he left the track after going out of this Grand Prix will make no difference when viewed from the perspective of the end of the season.

Words of wisdom here.

[LeonBrooke]

Give Kimi time to settle in. I know he won the first GP this year, but let's not expect him to be a world-beater yet.

Felipe is clearly the best driver at the moment, but we know that Kimi, Fernando and all the rest are capable of being quick. Let's not write anyone out yet (or write them in, for that matter).

[jens]

I have occasionally been a critic of Räikkönen, but I believe that he can win WDC - he once lost it only by 2 points, so why not? And he has two more Ferrari-years to go.

Yeah, that attitude-stuff makes me a bit worried. I'm not that much worried about this season (and Räikkönen definetely can't be written off in the WDC hunt yet), but about the future. How can the new non-Team MS carry on with car development and whether they can continue fighting for the title in the next years.

[CarlMetro]

So he left the circuit, with 160,000 spectators around it, early. Given the chance, especially if I was driving rather than flying out by helicopter, I'd have left the bloody circuit early too. I fail to see how a bit of common sense makes him a loner, nor do I see how it effects his ability to win a world championship.

[Shalafi]

I have occasionally been a critic of Räikkönen, but I believe that he can win WDC - he once lost it only by 2 points, so why not? And he has two more Ferrari-years to go.

Yeah, that attitude-stuff makes me a bit worried. I'm not that much worried about this season (and Räikkönen definetely can't be written off in the WDC hunt yet), but about the future. How can the new non-Team MS carry on with car development and whether they can continue fighting for the title in the next years.

They can..they have a resources and solid organization. Of course Kimi is disappointed after race like this, it might cost him WDC in the end. But he is underappreciated as a car-developer. This will be a fantastic year, Massa has shown that he is lighting fast, Hamilton might be the best rookie ever, but dont count out Alonso and Kimi, both of them are exceptional talents. We might see best year ever in F1 in terms of tight competition.

[Scuderia ferrari]

But that's his character. He will never really have the sort of pesonality Hamilton or Massa have for example, but when the car is hooked up and he is focused, he can really do well. The first race proved that, so i don't think that you can say he won't win a championship for his personality. I think he's still a contender and it's a long season, so don't count him out yet.

[Valve Bounce]

Well it was obvious for all to see that Kimi looks after No.1

You dont leave the circuit if you retire. You support your team. Win and lose together. With that attitude why would any of the engineers really care? I small part of them do a better job on Massa's car i think. As long as one of their drivers win hey? Kimi will never win a WDC at Ferrari. See if im wrong.

There is an interesting story about Jean Alesi. After his car broke down, he got into his Ferrari, and raced at high speed back to Monaco. When he got there, he looked at the licence plate and then realised he took somebody else's Ferrari from the team.

If I remember, from time to time, other drivers have been known to depart rather than voice their disappointment to reporters or other team members.

[Mifune]

Räikkönen　needs to be spending all the time he can with the team, there’s plenty of quick drivers out there but if you want to be more than that you have to work at it 24/7 extracting every last piece of information, making your presence felt within the team, a la Senna or Schumacher, though i know nothing about the reality of his situation, the impression i get is that KR isn’t doing that.
course MS turning up didn’t help but that’s life. My opinion of Räikkönen is steadily decreasing

[pino]

Well it was obvious for all to see that Kimi looks after No.1

You dont leave the circuit if you retire. You support your team. Win and lose together. With that attitude why would any of the engineers really care? I small part of them do a better job on Massa's car i think.

The engineers will do what Montezemolo and Todt tells them, and they both have great ammiration and respect for Kimi, so forget about a different treatment for him. He just had bad luck yesterday, Ferrari won't let him down regardless of his attitude...

[wmcot]

I think we're discussing different personalities here rather than attitudes. I think Kimi is a loner as bontebempo says and it is probably really impossible for him to change that. Kimi's best asset is that if you put him in a good car, he'll be blindingly fast. I believe that's why Ferrari hired him. I think they knew that he would not be as personable within the team as MS was and they accepted that fact. Kimi seems to be a shy, fidgety guy at post race press conferences. He's uncomfortable with people. But that has always been Kimi whether he was at Sauber, McLaren, or Ferrari.

Whether he will win the WDC or not depends on him being able to get into a reliable car that's adapted to his style of driving. If that happens, he'll be fast and win regularly.

The point is that Kimi doesn't have the sort of personality that, when things go wrong, he wants to hang around and answer endless questions. It's kind of nice to see somebody who seems to feel a bit the way I do when in uncomfortable circumstances.