Kimi's future - No racing in 2010?

[Saint Devote]

Kimi is going to kick ass next year, but only if he stays with Ferrari.

Someone should let you borrow a history book.

Really? I have been around racing since I was a kid, longer than most history books go back old sport - 35 seasons now.

There was a sea change in racing in 1974 because the new guard at the time: Mclaren won their first world title and Niki Lauda changed the way a driver leads a team - he gathered a totally disorganized Ferrari team stuck in the culture of the 1960's and forced them into modernity and Ferrari won a title the following year.

Without long anecdotes lets tabulate who is the most successful consistently and over the decades as a team:

Since:
1974 Mclaren have won 12 world titles with 7 drivers.
1974 Ferrari have won 9 world titles with 4 drivers - and one of these drivers won 5 of the 9, prior to that Ferrari had not won a titke for TWENTY years.

And it was only mismanagement by Ron Dennis that saw Mclaren lose the 2007 championship but I was pleased that Kimi won it because it was Mclaren letting him down that he did not win in 2005.

So the odds do favor a driver that signs for Mclaren rather than Ferrari and it has been Mclaren errors and FIA favoritism towards Ferrari - as we recently confirmed - that have seen them lose titles.

[leopard]

Massa can get back to the seat, but the long leave might left him some traumatic and need to reset off his mind from another starting point.

McLaren doesn't seem to be better destination, he was by far struggling and made the car less reliable than that of today's performance at Ferrari.

I think as long as Kimi still has enough interest to drive F1, Ferrari should retain the seat for him. He might like rallying, but trying something new would never give great result instantly, he will need to struggle, drivers like Loeb will not give him too much room to speak.

[christophulus]

I've seen rumours of Raikkonen taking a massive paycut to be Button's #2 at Brawn, as well as big moves to Toyota, Renault etc. And that rumour about Massa spending next year at Renault or whoever til Raikkonen's contract is up.

In short.. only he knows. The only safe bet is to wait 'til next weekend and see what Ferrari announce. I'm still not convinced that Alonso is going to be a Ferrari driver next year!

[christophulus]

...although there is an interesting bit here about McLaren's post-race press release. Apparently they were going to great lengths to congratulate Raikkonen on his win!

Many people at McLaren still love Raikkonen; in many ways he's the perfect McLaren driver.

For a team that grounds their engineering in pure mathematics and physics, to have an unemotional, repetitive - almost robotic - driver in the car is much easier than having a man who is inconsistent and variable.

McLaren engineers still talk with wonder about Raikkonen's consistent lap times. He was so good, they say, because he would come back to the pits, say what was wrong, they would fix it and he would go out and go faster. Simple.

Team boss Martin Whitmarsh, who values his engineers' opinions highly, wouldn't rule out employing Raikkonen again when asked on Saturday afternoon.

As a matter of interest, in the McLaren post-race press release, every quote - with the exception of Hamilton's - praises Kimi for his win.

Given that most McLaren people would rather undergo root canal surgery than publicly praise Ferrari, one can't help thinking there's a bit of 'preparing the ground' going on here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/f1mole/20...-the-belg.html

[Saint Devote]

Massa can get back to the seat, but the long leave might left him some traumatic and need to reset off his mind from another starting point.

McLaren doesn't seem to be better destination, he was by far struggling and made the car less reliable than that of today's performance at Ferrari.

I think as long as Kimi still has enough interest to drive F1, Ferrari should retain the seat for him. He might like rallying, but trying something new would never give great result instantly, he will need to struggle, drivers like Loeb will not give him too much room to speak.

The unanswered question is whether the accident has affected Massa's driving and nobody will know that until he drives again.

Historically it can go either way. Both Hakkinen and Lauda returned and became world champions - twice.

On the other hand Moss for example discovered his speed had gone.

Time will tell.

[ioan]

They are not.

Mclaren and Ferrari have proven that they can win consistently and they have shown longevity.

If I were a driver and had the choice to join any team I would select Mclaren.

Because it is the only team that can provide a driver with the closest that one can get to a guarantee of winning races.

No other team can do that. Ferrari are not quite on that level.

Another load of rubbish.

[ioan]

Really? I have been around racing since I was a kid, longer than most history books go back old sport - 35 seasons now.

You have a great opinion about yourself, no doubt.
However unless you are God himself, something I ver much doubt given your posts, you should pick a history book before you open your mouth next time. Seriously.

[DexDexter]

Another load of rubbish.

I don't know what the argument here is but Mclaren and Ferrari are currently the teams that usually build a fast car and fight for the championship? Is that rubbisH?

[ioan]

McLaren did win 2 drivers titles since 1999 (that's 10 years with 20 titles at stake).
Renault won back to bak WDC and WCC drivers in 2005 and 2006.

That makes them a more realistic top performer than the Mclaren.

Also in the same period Ferrari won like 8 WCC and 6 WDC titles, yet our 'knowledgeable' devoted saint thinks they are less likely to give a driver the best chance than McLaren are!

[Saint Devote]

...although there is an interesting bit here about McLaren's post-race press release. Apparently they were going to great lengths to congratulate Raikkonen on his win!



http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/f1mole/20...-the-belg.html

Kimi is actually the quintessential modern grand prix driver. He is uninterested in the technical aspect - which is pretty boring anyway beyond engines :-] - but does return to the pits and describe what he wants.

Then with Ronnie Peterson like style he goes out and is quicker if the car can be dialled in.

I think the unfortunate part of today's grand prix cars is that they are more rigid in terms of adaptation compared to say the Lotus 72 of Peterson's day.

The Lotus was not an easy car to drive but the car and tyre regulations of the day allowed a driver to move a car to his style.

Even Raikonnen had problems with set-up - remember the tyres.

But I will be surprised if he returns to Mclaren and if he does I would consider it an indication that he expects Woking to be in better shape for 2010 than than Modena.