To call Kimi Raikkonen an enigma might an understatement equal to calling the current state of F1 as “financially strained”. Yet, throughout his career, Raikkonen has been revered as a blindingly fast driver who liked to have a good time away from the track – a modern day James Hunt. Except that most felt Raikkonen was quicker.
It’s easy to see why. Despite having a single F1 championship to his name, he easily could have won more during his McLaren days had his car been more reliable. He so impressed the F1 world at McLaren, that Ferrari essentially convinced Michael Schumacher to retire, just so that they could hire Raikkonen. That’s right, Ferrari wanted to get rid of the most successful driver in F1 history, in fear they might miss the opportunity to sign Raikkonen.
In his first season at Ferrari, 2007, he won his first and only F1 championship. At this point, Ferrari’s signing of Raikkonen looked like a truly inspired decision. Unfortunately for the tifosi, the Raikkonen-Ferrari partnership did not produce a Schumacher-like dynasty. In fact, 2008 saw his teammate, Felipe Massa, outscore him, failing short of Lewis Hamilton for the championship. 2009 wasn’t much better for Raikkonen, as once again, Massa appeared to have the upper hand in the teammate battle until Massa’s accident in Hungary. Ferrari were so disenchanted with Raikkonen’s performance, they chose to fire him, which required paying him an obscene amount of money, just for the opportunity to sign Fernando Alonso.
Yet, public perception of Raikkonen was largely unaffected. He was still regarded as one of, if not the, fastest driver in the world, a driving savant who simply could drive. He spent the next few years dabbling in WRC and even NASCAR with little success. However, if you were to ask a panel of experts to rate Kimi Raikkonen, he would have to be regarded as one of the best in the world.
In 2012, Raikkonen returned to F1 with Lotus. His performances once again reignited speculation that he could be the best driver in the world. His results at Lotus earned him another shot in Maranello in 2014, pairing him with another best driver in the world candidate, Fernando Alonso. Finally, this teammate battle would establish how good Raikkonen really is.
Except that it didn’t. While Ferrari’s F-14T was not a good car, Alonso was able to manage reasonable results. Raikkonen, on the other hand, lagged well behind Alonso all season. Raikkonen was quick to explain the car did not perform to his personal preferences. Most accepted this explanation and were reassured Raikkonen would certainly outscore Alonso with a car to his liking. Then, Alonso finally ended his relationship with Ferrari paving the way for four-time champion Sebastian Vettel to partner Raikkonen. Finally, Raikkonen would show the world that Vettel was a four-time champion only because of the aerodynamic genius of Adrian Newey.
Again, that hasn’t happened. Raikkonen has not expressed displeasure with this year’s car. In fact, he often speaks positively, mentioning that he is happy at Ferrari. Strong words from Raikkonen. Seriously, that’s positively verbose for him. Unfortunately, Vettel is beating him, comfortably. After today, Raikkonen has now been out qualified in all four sessions by Vettel in 2015. Raikkonen’s excuses this time, have been, surprisingly, more focused on his own performances. Yet, he still needs excuses. He’s being beaten by his teammate.
Raikkonen is certainly a very good racing driver. But does Kimi Raikkonen the driver live up to the Kimi Raikkonen myth? The driver virtuoso who doesn’t need simulators or even practice? History will likely answer this question with a “no”. Raikkonen was very good at driving F1 cars prior to 2009. We must remember they were fundamentally different – different aero rules, different tire supplier, grooved tires, different engines, and even different driving styles. For those cars, Raikkonen may have been the best. The cars have changed. Evidence suggests, Raikkonen has not, or least not enough.
Image courtesy of Scuderia Ferrari
