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Raikkonen's troubles in the first four races [Re-titled]


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#1 Spillage

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 18:51

Similar deal with the Vettel thread, I think there's room for a separate and detailed technical discussion about Raikkonen's problems this season.

Certainly, there's something wrong. While in my opinion Alonso produced a pretty phenomenal weekend in China to be more than a minute adrift is not what I expect from Raikkonen, and given his performances last season I simply can't believe the gap between the drivers is really that big. So what's up with Kimi? He was on Alonso's pace in Bahrain but couldn't match him in Australia, with Malaysia a bit of a misnomer due to the puncture he sustained early on. So what could it be? Braking issues? We've seen him really struggle before (2008) when the car isn't to his liking, so do we think he's in for another similarly tough season? Or do we have faith Ferrari will develop the car towards his preferences and he'll start to outrace Alonso?



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#2 AustinF1

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 18:54

Ferrari is crazy if they develop the car away from what is working for Alonso.



#3 turssi

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 18:59

The European leg will be his proving grounds. Tech update, two day test and trouble free weekends will be available to him. This is when he needs to equal Fernando.

#4 kimster89

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 19:04

Tyres+setup dont work with his driving style and he has the best f1 driver for a team mate who makes Kimis problems look even worse.



#5 RealRacing

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 19:06

From the KR vs FA thread. I don't know if we need a separate thread for this but for what it's worth, this may be relevant to address the questions at he end of the OP.

 

Cyanide, on 20 Apr 2014 - 09:05, said:snapback.png

I think in that ESPN interview Kimi is essentially admitting that no front end parts will make him faster unless he changes his driving style. Which might take a very long time. 

 

There's no quick way out of this or mechanical fixes. He needs to learn how to work the tyres harder otherwise in colder conditions he'll be eaten alive. Hopefully he spends these 3 weeks digging deeper into his issues and possibly work in that simulator. 

 

Today he more or less confirmed the problem is not the car, but rather himself. 

If this is indeed the case, the scenario for Kimi at Ferrari does not look good, does it? I think most of us here agree that for a driver to perform at his peak, he needs the car to suit his driving style. I also believe that changing one's driving style will 1. take a relatively long time and 2. not be as effective (fast). So, if KR already believes that the Ferrari will not suit him, but rather that he will have to change/adapt his style, he'll be stuck behind FA and others...Let's face it, the probability that Ferrari works too hard at improving the car of the team's trailing driver is pretty low, especially if he continues to fall behind the one leading in points and especially knowing Ferrari's history in this matter. This is maybe how we can explain the difference between KR at Lotus and at Ferrari now. At Lotus the team did work their asses off to suit his preferences, while at Ferrari this seems increasingly unlikely.  It was a brave move by KR to move to Ferrari  as there was a high probability that the car's development philosophy was going to be focused on FA's style, feedback and history with the team (the development of a car IMO is intricately bound with the driving style of its leading driver, especially after a long time with the team). So, and this I wrote in this thread a while back, I believe that if KR does not produce an important leap forward in the next couple of races, he'll have condemned himself to play the support role. And we all know how difficult it is to get out of that. If I were KR, I would already be looking for alternatives next year if things don't improve quickly...



#6 Balnazzard

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 19:09

Well according to Kimi's own words this (regarding his race pace in China):

 

http://www1.skysport...inishing-eighth

 

In China it went to hell from the very beginning for Kimi. First he lost the first pratice session because there was some problem in his car that took time to fix, and then he couldnt catch up with that lost time, cause pratice 3 was on wet conditions...

 

Then there was the wet/cold weather and as Kimi said its extremely difficult for him to get the tyres working in such weather....this shouldnt have come to suprise to anyone who has followed the sport. Look at how Kimi was in trouble with Lotus as well everytime in wet conditions, and again it was about getting the tyres warmed up. On top of that Kimi ofcourse has been less comfortable with the car than Alonso troughout the beginning of the season, so because of all this, it was very difficult for Kimi this weekend. 

 

But if we look back at Malaysia and Bahrain, everyone who thinks that Kimi is this far behind compared to Alonso should just rethink Kimi's pace on those weekends...still Alonso performed better with the expection of Bahrain quali, but Kimi wasnt this massively behind, so I atleast have full belief that Kimi will be in much better shape again in Barcelona...unless its wet and cold there too...



#7 Gilles4Ever

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 19:19

Like the Vettel thread this thread has needed cleaning up, please read the oping post and reply to it of reply to another post based on the topic of the thread



#8 kimster89

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 20:27

So is this now a driver thread?



#9 TheNecromancer

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 20:38

I think hes just showing a sign of age, it cant be helped. If Michael Schumacher could not outplay someone like Rosberg when hes old and out of his prime, why is it any surprising that Raikonnen gets outplayed by Alonso when the latter has always been the better driver since 2005? Raikonnen already proved how great a driver he is during his two impressive runs with Team Lotus, he has little to prove and it will not significantly affect his all-time ranking even if he gets completely dominated this season. Maybe he will drop 2-3 spots, but not much.



#10 saudoso

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 20:48

KR is doing no better than FM used to, while FM and KR whre pretty well matched all the time.

The answer is there, pretty easy to figure it out: FA is head and shoulder above both.

#11 grunge

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 20:57

Its all been well established one would think..this is 08 all over again uptil now.

#12 photon

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 21:00

There are two things that are wrong:

 

The primary one is that Ferrari have been chronically unable to get him a car that can make it through enough practice laps to get a decent setup.  This weekend he missed both FP1 and FP2.  No race simulation, let alone decent setup.

 

That's the dominant problem at the current time.  The bad news is that there is little reason to believe it will change without active changes in the team to increase the levels of competence in his garage.  With the current political climate at Ferrari being what it is, I'd say that may be unlikely.

 

The other problem is how hard the new tires are.  They turn being easy on the tires into a disadvantage.  You see the tables have been turned up and down the grid on this.  It's what Mercedes have always dreamed of.  Whereas being able to preserve tires is an advantage under normal circumstances, it's a disadvantage when all the tires are abnormally hard.


Edited by photon, 20 April 2014 - 21:28.


#13 Trust

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 21:00

It's not 08 all over again, it's worse. In 08 Kimi had great pace in races, contrary today his pace was catastrophic the whole race.



#14 Cyanide

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 21:02

The reality of the matter is that Raikkonen was completely fine and matching Alonso in Bahrain in dry conditions [apart from the weak start]. 

 

However, there's no denying he's been struggling with colder and damp weekends where he has troubles getting the tyres working and I don't recall Kimi having such problems back at McLaren.

 

In Australia qualy he was about 2 seconds off Alonso in Q2 before dropping out (1:44.494 vs. 1:42.805)

In Sepang qualy he was about a full second off Alonso in Q3 (2:01.218 vs 2:00.175) 

In China qualy again about a full second off Alonso in Q3 (1:56.860 vs. 1:55.765) 

 

In terms of race pace, Kimi was actually running about equal tempo with Alonso in Oz, Malaysia and Bahrain. In China he was seemingly all over the place but he missed out on race preparation in FP1 and a lot of setup work. 

 

Despite all that, he's really not doing himself any favors with these starting positions and inability to get the tyres working under cool conditions. That's a problem, because he's not going to get always soaring track temperatures and sunshine to help him with tyre warming. (what will he do once tyre blankets get banned??)

 

Telling signs from Bahrain suggest the front end of the F14T is more or less OK for him right now, with room for improvement. However, I fear it's his driving technique that must be improved somehow so he works those tyres harder. It would make his life a lot easier in qualifying. 



#15 Okyo

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 21:03

KR is doing no better than FM used to, while FM and KR whre pretty well matched all the time.

The answer is there, pretty easy to figure it out: FA is head and shoulder above both.

Do heavily agree with that. Not sure why many are missing this simple point. Kimi's recent team mates were Grosjean and Massa. Grosjean, being a mediocre driver (wouldn't race him above lets say Button), managed to at times be better than Kimi. By Massa, Kimi was beaten in 2008 and 2009, though they seemed always close. Hence, it's logical to assume that Kimi would perform in the same (or a lil lower) level, which is what we're seeing this season. Though would doubt he's 1 sec off, but would guess more like 0.5 sec or so. At times, it seems that Kimi's "don't give a sh*t" cool attitude gets converted to pace on track by the fans.



#16 turssi

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 21:06

Kimi must be hoping for one pretty hot European summer!

I mean if he cant heat the tires then mother nature should!

#17 Break

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 21:09

Ferrari haven't built an easy and smooth handling car for years. If this years Ferrari was less of an untamed beast I bet Kimi would be right with Fernando, maybe better. Sadly for Kimi one of Fernando's greatest strengths is being able to drive practically undriveable machinery



#18 TomNokoe

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 21:12

It all stemmed from lack of laps in testing.

#19 Okyo

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 21:21

Also gonna repost my older post, from preseason "Which drivers do you think will benefit more with the new F1 regulations ?" thread as i tried to explain why Kimi might struggle and Fernando excel (fits this thread):

 

If we're talking about driving styles, the ones that will suffer is Massa and Kimi. They both like a positive front end, getting it in there and then flooring the gass pedal and correcting the slide if it happens. With the new regs making the rear a bit more loose and the acceleration going through the roof, they wont be able to do it (Kimi seems to have done it in testing, crashing). They will have to completely change their driving style. Also would call Vettel, but this is just based on that he's really not used to a car with an unstable rear. He'll suffer at first, but might get over it eventually. 

The ones that will probably get most out of it is Fernando, Button. They never are aggressive on the throttle. Fernando loves creating 'fake' understeer in mid corner, rarely letting the rear to step out unless he finds sudden front grip. This heavily saves rear tires, doesn't create rear slides, doesn't demand much from the rear. This as probably one of the main reasons why Fernando was so good in the Ferrari. The car had big rear grip problems and with these new regs, dare say it's gonna benefit him even more. Not being aggressive on the throttle, saving the rears is the key this year and these two drivers, especially Fernando, stand out.

BUT, the thing is, all of the drivers will have to make changes to their styles. Many might simply change everything. We've seen it in 2009. Now we got a totally different car. So there's not too much we can read in to all of this. Some drivers might simply have a new driving style, that benefits a lot more than their old one did.

 

Also would add, that Kimi might be having problems with the pull rod at the front. Something new to him, while Fernando has experience.


Edited by Okyo, 20 April 2014 - 21:24.


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#20 Cyanide

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 21:42

If I were KR, I would already be looking for alternatives next year if things don't improve quickly...

 

I'm afraid that's not a good solution. 

 

He's in it now, he was well aware what he got himself into when he signed to Ferrari. Alonso is no ordinary teammate but Kimi has to suck it up and accept the challenge. If he signs elsewhere next year he'll just be labeled a coward for running away from the problems instead of facing them. I'm pretty sure he went back there to prove he can beat him so I doubt he's given up on the idea after 4 races. 

 

I'm certainly not yet giving up on him eventually beating Alonso at some races. We could see in Bahrain that it's not impossible. So he's not done just yet despite the present outrage and difficult situation he's currently in. Kimi will bounce back, I'm 100% convinced. 

 

Besides, there's an Alice in Chains lyric out there that goes well with this scenario and provides some good motivation:

"In the darkest hole, you'd be well advised not to plan my funeral before the body dies" (Grind) 



#21 photon

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 21:51

Also gonna repost my older post, from preseason "Which drivers do you think will benefit more with the new F1 regulations ?" thread as i tried to explain why Kimi might struggle and Fernando excel (fits this thread):

 
 

Also would add, that Kimi might be having problems with the pull rod at the front. Something new to him, while Fernando has experience.

 

Yes, pull rod suspension has better aerodynamics and lower center of gravity, but poorer dynamics (i.e., front end feel).  Thus, every other team abandoning it and going back to pushrod for 2014.



#22 RallymanKujala

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 22:14

Kimi will beat FA if Ferrari allows it to happen. That is building him a car that's not broken during practice.



#23 Kimble

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 22:31

This is where the testing restrictions have been bad for F1.  In the old days they would have spent three days down in Ricard or somewhere and come up with a solution for the tyre heating issues.  I personally dislike the fact that drivers can't get the best out of the machinery as they haven't had the time to test.  It makes the cost savings a bit of a red herring as, in this case, half the teams budget is being spent on getting poor performance out of one of it's drivers.  Kimi could really do with a 'secret' Pirelli test.

 

All we know right now is that Alonso is probably getting the most out of the Ferrari and Kimi isn't.  When Kimi seems happy they are pretty equal on times.

 

There's a lot of mis-information about driving styles and front end.  Alonso was struggling 2-3 years ago in the Ferrari and they changed the steering rack ratios to help him get round this.  It's made Alonso a lot smoother driver in his Ferrari years as well.

 

What Kimi normally wants is a precise and sensitive feel.  He doesn't want to chuck the car into a corner, he likes to make one clean movement and carry maximum speed.  It's quite easy to see how such technique isn't the best for getting tyre temperature as you are only fully loading the tyre when you have it performing as you like.  Both positives and negatives are compounded with such a preference.



#24 HoldenRT

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 22:37

Kimi was already disappointing in Lotus last year once his Ferrari contract was announced.  Grosjean started making him look average, especially in qualifying.  Then he had back surgery.  Then he switched to Ferrari under new regs.

 

He's had some impressive drives with Lotus in the last 2 years, so maybe once he adjusts he can bounce back into that form again.

 

Just be clear though.. this is NOT the Kimi that drove for McLaren when he was at his peak.  You can't use this season as some sort of benchmark to say what would have happened if Kimi joined Renault in 2006, or if Alonso joined McLaren in 2005.  It doesn't work like that.

 

You could say that Alonso has been the more solid driver since then until now, but you didn't need to see this season to know that.  Kimi will probably improve as he adjusts within the team, and beat Alonso occasionally.. but Alonso is always hard to beat because he is rock steady.  The matchup has been disappointing so far but if he irons out his issues, it can liven up.

 

Overall he just needs to feel more comfortable.


Edited by HoldenRT, 20 April 2014 - 22:39.


#25 RealRacing

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Posted 20 April 2014 - 22:44

I'm afraid that's not a good solution. 

 

He's in it now, he was well aware what he got himself into when he signed to Ferrari. Alonso is no ordinary teammate but Kimi has to suck it up and accept the challenge. If he signs elsewhere next year he'll just be labeled a coward for running away from the problems instead of facing them. I'm pretty sure he went back there to prove he can beat him so I doubt he's given up on the idea after 4 races. 

 

I'm certainly not yet giving up on him eventually beating Alonso at some races. We could see in Bahrain that it's not impossible. So he's not done just yet despite the present outrage and difficult situation he's currently in. Kimi will bounce back, I'm 100% convinced. 

 

Besides, there's an Alice in Chains lyric out there that goes well with this scenario and provides some good motivation:

"In the darkest hole, you'd be well advised not to plan my funeral before the body dies" (Grind) 

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for Kimi giving his best to win this fight. If Ferrari are effectively capable and willing to make the necessary changes to suit his style better, then he'll have a pretty decent chance of equaling or bettering FA. There are, however, too many factors that, apparently, are conspiring against this: the hard tyres, pull-rod suspension, et. al. Yes, he could adapt his style, but we all know that takes time and does not produce the same result as when a driver is "in his zone". If he's unable to find his sweet spot, it will be close to impossible to beat a FA that has. And call me pessimistic, but I believe that if FA is able to get far ahead enough, Ferrari will concentrate on him (basically car development that suits him) and forget about finding or developing a car for KR. That's why I believe it's so crucial for KR to get closer in the first part of the championship. FA learned his lesson with LH and refined it with Massa: he has to create a relatively large gap early so the team concentrates on him. If this happens, KR will, as per Ferrari's history, be classified as the supporting driver and he won't be able to change that. I'm not saying he should quit now, but should keep doors open in case Ferrari is unable or unwilling to develop his car to his liking after a certain point in the season.



#26 Juan Kerr

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 00:23

Absolutely fantastic driver is Raikkonen he's just not familiar with what he's driving, some drivers can't just jump into a car and wring its neck, Kimi gets his speed from refinement and to a level higher than most drivers. He's never really been a reactive, adapter.



#27 AlexS

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 00:33

No one can say much about Kimi based on 4 races where he was hit from behind in 3 - one which affected directly the race-  another 2 races where the safety car messed his race.  And another race with a dry season without running  due to car issues precisely when the qualifying was in rain and the race was in dry: in short Kimi had one training season to prepare for everything.

 

I agree that Alonso is being better and is better adapted to the car which was to be expected when Kimi just arrived. But the how much better just appears too big because Alonso had not so many issues.

 

 

 

Race one- Kimi was always recovering time to Alonso every time he had massive braking issues until last laps , SC messed partially his race. DRS didn't worked. PU electric problems all race. Alonso only at begin.

Race two - Hit from behind sent him 55 sec behind everyone else. DRS also didn't worked again.

Race three - On par with Alonso. Without SC maybe his 2 pits strategy might have jumped Alonso.

Race four - Only one dry training session to prepare for qualifying and race when this was the track with more tire issues to date.

 

By the tone of the posts most seems to not want to make an appraisal with any research effort more than looking at results in points table and shooting from the hip.


Edited by AlexS, 21 April 2014 - 00:51.


#28 discover23

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 01:24

What no one has brought up so far is how disappointed Luca must be from all this driving style business, car does not suit Him, cold tires, etc. At the end of the day the drivers have to deliver the goods with what they got and the expectations were that kimi would match Alonso and not simply fill Massa's shoes, which is what he is doing now..

I am pretty sure the team is not happy about this..
Luca does not have a lot of patience for this, in 2008/2007 he asked where was the real kimi.. A few more races like this and Kimi is going to start feeling the pressure from Ferrari..

#29 Thomas99

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 01:27

Many of us said before the season we rate Raikkonen similarly to Massa and I'm unsurprised that Raikkonen is performing similarly to what Massa did. This is pretty much what I expected against Fernando.



#30 eronrules

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 01:38

So is this now a driver thread?

apparently, when you add the title 'what's wrong' or 'X's trouble' etc, mods allow them ... i'm confused as well.  :confused:



#31 Ikebana

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 03:29

Wait, wait, as much as I think some Kimi's fans are being unfair to Alonso in the other thread, I think some people IMO is being unfair with Kimi here when they say he's doing no better than Massa.

 

It's way too early for such statement to be relevant, the fact is that Massa was depressingly bad for a lot of time, let's give Kimi a bit more time.



#32 boldhakka

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 03:44

It's the tyres and the associated limits on their allowed camber and pressure ranges. 

 

There is no solution. He cannot change his driving style. He will be off the pace and very unhappy for the next two years. There is a small chance for a miracle that Pirelli be asked once again to bring softer tyres, or they allow more variation in the camber and pressure settings. But don't count on it. 

 

He'll do better on the softer range and on hotter days, and the few races where he can pull-off one less stop. We'll just have to enjoy those. 


Edited by boldhakka, 21 April 2014 - 03:46.


#33 HamiltonFanboy

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 03:45

Its just reality. I dont know what people were expecting from him. He's coming into a new team with a car that behaves very differently to anything out there and he is up against the best driver on the grid who is completely in his comfort zone. Kimi has also proven in the past that he is completely unable to adapt his driving style to even the smallest changes in car balance so this is the result. He might improve and get a bit closer with some more track time but going up against Alonso was always going to be a step to far for him. He's just not as good, his time at Ferrari vs Massa proved that.



#34 Exumer

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 06:28

I believe that it is a combination of many things.

 

First of all, Fernando is a really strong driver, probably the strongest on the grid at the moment + he is really good in politics + he has a very strong reputation within the team.

 

Secondly, even though Kimi was in Ferrari 5 years ago, it's still a new team for him.

 

Then, he has new and unexperienced engineer. There is a huge room for improvement for both of them as a team. I think if he has Mark Slade with him, it'd be easier for him to adapt. Having said that we should give them a time, just imagine how much pressure Spagnolo has on his shoulders. The biggest change in rules for many years, star driver, not the best car to work with etc. Compare it to Stella and Alonso, who worked with each other for last 4 years.

 

Then there is a car. I don't want to say that F14T was designed for Alonso only but it's obvious that team didn't have any time to made any fundamental changes in design of the car in order to help Kimi.

 

Then there is a politics. Ferrari is famous for that and I think that there's a lot of things going on that we can't see. It doesn't help to Kimi as well. Who knows what new TP has in mind, what LdM has in mind.

 

Then there is bad luck. Kimi lost FP1 and had problems during whole weekend. It didn't help too. He desperately needs more time behind the wheel without any troubles. Plus, don't forget that Kimi was hit by Magnussen in Malaysia.

 

Then there is his driving style. He admitted that he need to change it in order to make these tyres work. It will take time.

 

Many, many factors. It is easy to just say that Kimi lost his motivation or that he isn't that good as Alonso etc. 

 

I believe that Kimi will do better. How better it depends on him, on his willingness to change things, to make it works etc. And I believe that he is determine to do that, otherwise why on earth did he choose Ferrari? He is there to give Alonso hard times and beat him. 

 

But also, it depends on the team and I think that they hire him not because they had spare 20 millions. They hire him for a reason. To win WCC and WDC. That is why they will help him. Otherwise, it makes no sense at least to me, Bianchi would have been better candidate for a position. I hope Marco Mattiaci and Kimi will get on well and the fact that SD is gone will not hurt Kimi positions within the team.

 

To sum up, let's just wait a little bit more. It's easy to blame a driver after one bad race, but is it fair?


Edited by Exumer, 21 April 2014 - 06:29.


#35 DS27

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 07:12

Well it's early days, but maybe later in the year, some may suggest we should re-assess just how good the Lotus was for the last couple of years.

#36 HamiltonFanboy

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 07:23

Well it's early days, but maybe later in the year, some may suggest we should re-assess just how good the Lotus was for the last couple of years.

It's been obvious for a long time that the Lotus had a really really good car both years. In downforce and drivability terms I think it was 2nd only to the Red Bull both years. I think a combination of Grosjean being awful for a year and a half and Kimi doing a poor job in qualifying gave people the impression that it was an average car. No chance.



#37 Radion

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 07:42

So here it begins. I know some of you guys think that the likes of alonso/hamilton'd have beend wdc by mid-season with the lotus, but why not focus on the OP instead of trying to spin theories how bad/good cars of the past era were and what driver under/over-achieved?  :wave:



#38 MikeV1987

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 08:39

I can see this thread going well...  :drunk:



#39 MikeV1987

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 08:40

So here it begins. I know some of you guys think that the likes of alonso/hamilton'd have beend wdc by mid-season with the lotus, but why not focus on the OP instead of trying to spin theories how bad/good cars of the past era were and what driver under/over-achieved?  :wave:

hey stop it with your logic and such, let the simpletons make up whatever kind of theories that will make them feel better.


Edited by MikeV1987, 21 April 2014 - 08:45.


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#40 as65p

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 09:21

... let the simpletons make up whatever kind of theories that will make them feel better.

Don't be too harsh on those making up every possible and impossible kind of excuse for Raikönnen's lack of form. :)

 

But seriously, it's gone way worse than I expected for Kimi. I expected Alonso to be ahead in 6 or 7 races out of ten, overall better but closely shadowed by Raikönnen.

 

Now it's looking already the best he may hope for as the seasons goal is damage limitation, i.e. performing good enough to not have his Ferrari future questioned constantly by the media. In results, I reckon that would mean beating Alonso on merit in at least 3 or 4 races and be reasonably close in the rest.



#41 Okyo

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 09:23

Wait, wait, as much as I think some Kimi's fans are being unfair to Alonso in the other thread, I think some people IMO is being unfair with Kimi here when they say he's doing no better than Massa.

 

It's way too early for such statement to be relevant, the fact is that Massa was depressingly bad for a lot of time, let's give Kimi a bit more time.

Actually, he's doing a lot worser than Massa. Massa never really fell off more than half a second behind Fernando. Kimi 3 out of 4 races, was more than a second behind. Still, i give him the benefit of the doubt. It's a new car, new team, new regs with him having more work at readjusting his driving style. Would guess for most, even the team, he has until mid season to sort it out. Otherwise, i wouldn't be surprised he would be replaced, as winds of change are blowing at Ferrari.



#42 AlexS

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 14:56

The silliness continues, definitive judgment already applied after 4 races when the car has been plagued by issues.



#43 Jon83

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 15:20

This is a load of nonsense.

 

Already in this thread we've had his age mentioned (FFS he is only 2 years older than Alonso), the team not giving him a car that works or allowing him to beat Alonso LOL, 2008, tyres and I'm sure there are a few crackers still to come (ice cream anyone?)

 

The fact is that like the case with Vettel, it is far too early to judge Kimi and discussion of troubles over the opening races could be had for pretty much every driver on the grid bar a few. He's just changed teams and moved into a car which has been a lot poorer than those who follow the team had hoped.

 

If we had a situation where one of the Mercedes drivers had won every race and the other was finishing in the midfield then there may be some merit in a discussion but this thread is just full of wild and premature claims.

 

 



#44 SophieB

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Posted 21 April 2014 - 16:42

I don't think there's any saving this. As with the Vettel one, worth a go but this is further gone than even that thread.