Kimi, the demolisher

[Dzeidzei]

I think it is an enginner trying to divert the attention on the origin of the problems in McLaren

Well, there are some questions Mr Ilien doesnt say anything about. If you know that by taking your car to its absolute limits you can hang in there with the leading cars, do you think a real racer would ever choose to take it easy and finish the race in 5th or 6th?

I think the basic problem with McL was that it was just too slow. Kimi already had a seat at Ferrari (probably since 2004) so why would he be gentle to the car and try to finish at 3rd or 4th spot? I think Mr Ilien defined motor racing well when he talks about being gentle. Going flat out must be for stupid people. Finns, basicly.

But arent we lucky this year? We´ll see FA nurse his McL around and not getting any DNF´s all season.

[Juppe]

Except on 2002, David 4 retirements vs 10 for Kimi.

That is true, but after that horrible year the retirements in 2003 -2006 have been:

Kimi: 20 / Teammate: 21

So there is no statistical proof for Kimi being more destructive than his teammates have been, but as statistics are fun - they do not always tell the whole truth.

[ioan]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/56372

Will KR have the same "bad luck" at Ferrari? Is he really that "savage" or is it just the opinion of an engineer defending his products?

As we have already seen it the McLaren auto destructs also when driven by Alonso.

Taking into account Mercedes' and McLaren's incredible reliability, even if KR will destroy his Ferrari again and again, Felipe would still win the championship with a few races to spare!

[Big Ben]

IMO drivers are supposed to push their equipment to the limit. It's simple. The difficult part is to find where that limit is. However, in KR's case I would blame the engine. I have no idea how many times they had to change KR's engine in 2005 sending him back 10 places on the grid, but I recall he won in Hungary and the Turkey using the same engine (though I'd might be wrong)... Nevertheless, at times they had to change it even two races in a row.... I'd say that is quite a proof that engine was pretty fragile... and not the driver too aggressive
So give him a reliable car, let him drive it hard and bang it into all the kerbs, lap after lap, and race after race....

[ioan]

Don't worry people, Ferrari designed cars that were able to cope with MS' aggressive style lap after lap for 2 race week ends, KR will be fine too.

[chap]

So there is no statistical proof ...

only because you decide not to take account of the data you don't like ... that's the way to have fun with the results

[schmenke]

IMO drivers are supposed to push their equipment to the limit. .......

Exactly. It's up to the engineers to construct a car that will withstand the punishment of an F1 race.

[Tazio]

Speaking of the dead!
How many times Did Mike turn up the wick for a limited part of a race(the 4 stoper in france'94 comes to mind) Monza the same year!
Fred also! Mostly running away early, and cruising! The former was more dramatic! the latter is just common sense!
My point is you have to know the limits of your equipment.
Kimi may get a great car! He will win races! But, he will not win the wdc if he doesn't take care of his equipment!

[agwiii]

I believe this is just Illien "woofing" to the press. We will soon see if Kimi's reliability problems continue at Ferrari. Nothing like having the facts, is there? Making predictions is -- the purview of Nostradamus, not Illien.

[Juppe]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/56391

It seems this was a duck.

Illien denies Ferrari 'tank' comments

By Jonathan Noble Friday, January 19th 2007, 15:01 GMT


Mario Illien believes that Kimi Raikkonen will make a success of his switch to Ferrari, after denying reports that he said the Finn's new team would need to build him a 'tank'.

German newspaper Sports Bild on Thursday quoted Illien as saying that Raikkonen was so hard on his cars that Ferrari would have to produce a bulletproof machine if they were going to get the best out of him.

But Illien has denied making those remarks and, in fact, has told autosport.com he can see no negative aspect to Raikkonen's approach to racing.

"I haven't spoken to anybody in the last few months about Formula One and gave no interviews," said Illien, who worked with Raikkonen when his Ilmor engine company produced engines for Mercedes-Benz.

"Kimi is a great guy. I enjoyed working with him and have great respect for him.

"He always gave the maximum in the car and he was a guy who you know would take things to the limit. I see that as a good thing."

Illien believes that Raikkonen can deliver all that is expected of him at Ferrari following his switch from McLaren.

"He is going to push hard, of course," explained Illien. "A lot will depend on how the relationship between Kimi and the team gels, but I expect everything will work out okay. He is a very committed guy."