14 replies to this topic

[Finntastic]

Kimi likes to rub it to Max´s face ... nice!

Kimi - F1 is easy
From itv.com 20.04.2001

Kimi Räikkönen says he has had far less difficulty adapting to life in F1 than he expected.

Räikkönen burst onto the scene with a superb sixth place on his debut at Melbourne and was impressive at Imola last weekend. Despite never having visited the circuit before, he constantly ran in the top ten and was challenging Michael Schumacher when he crashed with a steering wheel failure.

The 21-year-old has warned his rivals that he is getting faster and faster with every race as he gets more experience of F1.

He said: "F1 was easier than expected. It is a big step from Formula Renault, but since the first race it has felt like I belong here at this level."

Räikkönen believes he will become a better driver the more experience he gets.

He told Autosport magazine: "Now I feel better than at the beginning of the season. I have more confidence.

"You always learn something every time you go in the car and you go quicker every time. I am getting faster and better."

Sauber have launched an investigation into Raikkonen’s retirement at Imola – the car’s steering wheel literally came off in the young Finn’s hands. He says he did nothing wrong.

He said: "I don’t know why it happened. As far as I am concerned I put in on correctly."

...Oh, and Ross

[molive]

He said: "F1 was easier than expected. It is a big step from Formula Renault, but since the first race it has felt like I belong here at this level."


Kimi should shut up and drive, prove in the track he belongs (so far he's doing ok, but what if he screws up big time later in the season, who will be there to blame FIA?).

[Finntastic]

BTW molive, how is Aki Berg doing. I bealive that he has played better than what everybody expected - am I right?
Go Sharks!;)

[Ross Stonefeld]

are you trolling? im not interested in your masturbation

[JayWay]

Ofcourse it is easy, he is a super talented driver, but he is in a non pressure situation. He is not battling for wins, he is not in any war with another driver. He is in a car which is bvetter then it's reputation, and all he has to do is drive smartly and get points to recieve accolades. Wait till the expectations for points start rising, and people start expecting him to beat Heidfeld. Hes had it easy so far, he has done well, but Heidfeld has been equally impressive but hasn't gotten nearly the credit Kimi has. Kimi is in a great situation.

Kimi is not in any competition, he is only driving for experience. If he was in some kind of title chase, beileve me he would have a different outlook on F1. It's early, and Kimi really shouldn't speak so soon.

[Ghostrider]

I agree with JayWay. Kimi is in a very good situation with little pressure. Button had a similar situation last year, and he is finding it a lot tougher this year I think.

[Sammyed]

Kimi is just another good paid driver by Sauber......
........It's just easy money for him....
He better start exposing why he is on F1, if he can't so get him out.
F1 easy...my xss!!!

[Mellon]

Actually this year may become very important in the future. If, and that's a big if, speculations come true and Nick ends up at McLaren and Kimi at Ferrari the two might be battling each other for the WC in years to come. So whoever is faster can gain a slight psychological edge in future battles over the other driver, especially if it's Kimi since he is after all a pretty inexperienced rookie.

[Spunout]

I hope Kimi will not get too cocky! He has some healthy self-confidence (and for a good reason) but I hope he will not have too much of it...

"are you trolling? im not interested in your masturbation"

???

[RichardB]

I have to agree that he is beginning to sound a little cocky. I know that self-confidence is a required trait in a championship contender but there is a thin line between confidence and arrogance. KR and JPM also should both take a long look in the mirror before making assertions and predictions that they may struggle to live up to. Compare their attitudes with someone like Ralf who just seems to keep his head down and gets on with the job.

[kenny]

take this MAx...

[hedges]

He said it was easier than he expected, not that it was easy. He states that it was a big step up from his previous formula and he will become a better driver given experience.

This is hardly world shattering stuff, more like stock standard replies, certainly nothing I haven't heard from Button or Montoya. Geez, driving talent is driving talent, he wouldn't even be in F1 if he wasn't an exceptional driver. On top of which I think he may still be on probation for his super license, statements like

'man, it's so difficult, there are these long straights and BLAM all of a sudden there is this bend in the road, there's cars everywhere man, RB could be behind me for all I know, and it's raining man, it's almost always raining'

aren't likely to instill confidence in his team and the FIA.

Cut the guy some slack, if you don't rate him...fine, he doesn't have a heap of pressure on him yet and I agree that will determine his true ability. But all he did was answer a question based on his present experience, he's driven well so far, hasn't looked like struggling, so why is it so hard to take the guy at his word?

[Finntastic]

[17/04/01 - 12:49]
Is Kimi Räikkönen next on the list?
For a GP victory

McLaren driver, Mika Häkkinen's countryman, young Sauber driver, Kimi Räikkönen scored his first world championship point during his first Formula One race at Albert Park in Australia just over a month ago and has performed strongly in the races since then. Despite the fact that Mika wouldn't give him the ‘future world champion' tag, he fully believes that the potential already displayed by the younger Finn is indication enough that he will one day win in the pinnacle of Motorsports.

"Kimi has already shown enough potential to say for sure that he is going to be a great Grand Prix winner," Häkkinen said. "You can't say if he will be champion, because for that you need to have a special kind of patience, and it is too early to say whether he has that. But he learns new circuits extremely quickly and this is the best sign of a top driver."

[man from martinlaakso]

JayWay, almost all the F1 tracks are new to Kimi and this creates pressure. He has only two day's time to get the correct set-ups for the qualifications and races. This is a very demanding task, especially if the weather is changing all the time. And his performances are compared always to NH's, who has more F1 experiance and who is a very fast driver. Because Sauber is not one of the best teams, its drivers have almost always the difficult task to rise to the points from the behind.

[Mellon]

I was just reading up on the sporting regulations and realized that once Kimi has started the race in Barcelona he has secured a super licence for next year under article 5 iii) f):

has started in at least 5 races counting for the F1 World Championship for Drivers the previous year

It is however possible to withdraw his licence for the rest of the year as his super license was granted under article 5 iii) g). Go figure.