What The Hell Is Going On With Raikonnen?

Ay Cee

Where has he been the last few races?!

There was all these rumours a while back about him retiring and I thought "WHAT?!", but now...

Is his mind somewhere else? Is that car not to his driving style? He just seems to amble around. Hakinnen used to be similar, he used to seem content to finish where ever he was when he wasn't in the Top 3.

I always thought he was Mr. Consistent and that his current form was more Massa. But now, Massa's got the finger out and driving a stormer!

Biro

His attitude sucks. He needs a kick in the arse really. 7 Fastest laps this year, he starts driving half way through a GP and sets fastest laps, but up until about half 1 on a Sunday he's nowhere.
His interest in the sport is definately diminishing.

Sabre0001

The same happened last year and he also got a talking to (Ferrari president said he was disappointed). This year, he apparently has been talked to. I wonder if the results will be similar?!

Attitude does seem to be a bit of a problem...If Massa wasn't unlucky / very unpredictable, Kimi could be even more embarressed by a "lesser" and lower paid driver!

Ay Cee

I think Massa has really started to put his "wild/ unpredictable" driving behind him. He really seems to have matured as a driver of late. Maybe he's seeing what Raikonnen's doing/ or not doing and see's this as an opportunity to show what he's made of.

Massa apparently takes on board a lot of the advice from Scumacher, in his, what ever role he has. Raikonnen has none of it apparently.

If he doesn't pull his act together do you think Ferrari, after talking to him, next year will say "fnck this" and get shot of him for say Alonso. He makes no secret of his desire to drive for Ferrari. Although Alonso's attitutde isn't remarkable at the best of times

It's funny I would have always thought Kimi would have rock solid. "The Ice Man" don't think so!

amacachi

He really does need a kick up the arse

vectra

amacachi wrote: »

He really does need a kick up the arse

So,
Are we to assume that The Great Schumacher should have got the same in his down period of 05/06 ??

amacachi

I meant in the metaphorical sense, I wasn't suggesting that Luca di Montezemolo or someone else should sneak up behind him and insert their foot into his arse.
Was Schumacher being beaten week-in week-out by his teammate?

vectra

amacachi wrote: »

Was Schumacher being beaten week-in week-out by his teammate?

No teammate of Schumachers was allowed to beat him.. It was in their contracts :rolleyes:

EvilMonkey

vectra wrote: »

No teammate of Schumachers was allowed to beat him.. It was in their contracts :rolleyes:

Massa bet him a few times

amacachi

vectra wrote: »

No teammate of Schumachers was allowed to beat him.. It was in their contracts :rolleyes:

Couldn't just be that his car wasn't up to scratch no?

Ay Cee

vectra wrote: »

So,
Are we to assume that The Great Schumacher should have got the same in his down period of 05/06 ??

That was Bridgestone's down period.

Ghost Train

his qualifying and starts haven't been great, might just be the car not suiting him at the moment, have to say that Massa is showing the performance is in the car... i think if he can have one or two good races which he's probably due people will forget how bad he has been

vectra

eolhc wrote: »

his qualifying and starts haven't been great, might just be the car not suiting him at the moment, have to say that Massa is showing the performance is in the car... i think if he can have one or two good races which he's probably due people will forget how bad he has been

He has said this himself about not being able to get the best out of the tyres over one lap. BUT, if he can just get a good clean start then he will excell.

Ay Cee

Raikkonen defiant over poor form
Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen
Raikkonen has been a shadow of his true self in the last three races

World champion Kimi Raikkonen has rejected claims he lacks motivation in the face of a run of poor form that is threatening his title challenge.

The Finn has not won since April and has been outpaced by Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa in the last three races.

"If anyone doubts my motivation they can be sure of this: I want to win, now more than ever," Raikkonen said.

And he played down his poor form, claiming it was caused by mistakes in qualifying rather than a lack of pace.

Raikkonen has been behind Massa on the grid for the last three races in Germany, Hungary and the European event in Valencia last Sunday, and has subsequently been unable to make up lost ground in the race.

But he said: "The truth is in a couple of races (Hungary and Germany) I made some mistakes that relegated me to sixth place while in Valencia I missed out on third place by a hair's breadth."

606: DEBATE
I'll do a lap of Brands Hatch naked if Kimi qualifies as low as sixth at Spa

GordonMurray

His performances in recent races have been a poor return for Ferrari on his reputed $50m (£27.3m) salary, which is believed to be about five times more than Massa's.

And the poor results have come at a critical point in a season in which Raikkonen has been less than convincing on a number of occasions.

It has emerged that Ferrari have had talks with Raikkonen in an attempt to work out what is wrong.

There have even been rumours that the 28-year-old could leave the team at the end of the season and be replaced by Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso, even though Raikkonen's contract runs to the end of 2009.
Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen
Raikkonen (right) has been outpaced by the cheaper Massa in recent races

But Raikkonen is shrugging off the speculation and says he is looking forward to getting back to form at the next race, the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, his favourite circuit.

"What's happened has happened, there's no use crying about it," said Raikkonen, who dominated the Belgian race last year.

"We'll go there next weekend. I love that circuit, I'd love to race there all year long.

"It's the best of them all and I hope to have a good car there. I'll do my best to win there once again."

Must have heard us.
If he doesn't do well in Spa I'd be asking serious questions if I were Ferrari.

vectra

Ay Cee wrote: »

Must have heard us.
If he doesn't do well in Spa I'd be asking serious questions if I were Ferrari.

And if he does win at Spa you will see a re kindled Kimi again at his best for the rest of the season.

Normal people have down times.. Why cant they?

BaZmO*

I think Kimi is still in with a great shout to win the Championship this year, he's only 13pts. behind Hamilton.
Plus 4 out of the last 6 races are Ferrari country and with the next one being Spa it looks good. He won there last year (Ferrari 1, 2) and holds the fastest lap record from 2004. He looks good at 9/2.