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[sagi58]

Both Alonso and Kimi are fighters!! Both have their strengths and their weaknesses!!
Next year is shaping up into an interesting year!!

What will our drivers do? Work together? Fight against each other? Opinions welcome!!

[sagi58]

Here's Alonso's take on Kimi:

 wrote:">Formula 1 - Raikkonen will be an asset - Alonso

Fernando Alonso has no doubts that Kimi Raikkonen will be an important asset to Ferrari when he rejoins the team next year.

The Finn, who clinched the Formula 1 title with the Maranello squad in 2007, is replacing Williams-bound Felipe Massa alongside Alonso in 2014.

Although Alonso had said in the past that Massa was no slower than Raikkonen, the Spaniard insisted he rates the Finn, even though he admitted he is yet to form an opinion about him.

"There is a lot of misinformation about my new team-mate. You read things I said that I didn't actually say. I think he can be an important asset to the team next year," Alonso told reporters during a Santander event in Madrid.

"Between Kimi and I, with 12 years of experience [each], that can help us develop the car in certain aspects that are new.

"I can't give an opinion about Kimi because I don't know him. There are others who can give opinions about others without knowing them, but I can't.

"And having not shared a team with him, or having never spent more than 10 minutes with him, I can't say what he's like or who he is.

"With Felipe I shared four years and he was a good person, and we worked for Ferrari together in an efficient and professional way. I think Kimi will be the same, but it's hard to give an opinion now.

"It's important that we work together and that a red car, whichever it is, crosses the finish line first."

Although Ferrari endured a difficult 2013 and was no match for the dominant Red Bull, Alonso thinks there is reason to be confident for next year.

"This year we had a sad or disastrous year, according to some people," he said. "I think the reason to be more optimistic next year is that I'm at Ferrari, which is a top team which can do great things."

[sagi58]

, AJN wrote:">Ecclestone: Alonso-Raikkonen a classic combination, but Ferrari needs a good car

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is fully behind Ferrari’s controversial driver pairing for the 2014 season, but warns that the Maranello team will need to build strong car for their World Champion drivers.

Some – even Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo – believe pitting former undisputed ‘number one’ Fernando Alonso against the team’s 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen is a bold risk.

“But I have been here since the early 70s,” the Italian said recently, “and I know that risk is something you have to live with in Formula 1.”

Ecclestone, Formula 1′s chief executive, usually likes to see the sport’s top drivers spread across the most competitive teams.



But he thinks Alonso versus Raikkonen at Ferrari, Formula 1′s most famous team, will be “fun”.

“I thought Ferrari would win the title in 2013,” the 83-year-old Briton told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport, “and I cannot explain why they were not competitive.

“Alonso, in any case, drove well,” he added.

Ecclestone answered “yes” when asked if the Spaniard was right to criticise the Maranello based team mid-season.

But that criticism earned him a rebuke, and many believe Ferrari’s decision to replace Alonso’s preferred teammate Felipe Massa with Finn Raikkonen for 2014 was part of a shift away from the Spaniard.



“Now the dust has settled,” Ecclestone explained, “and we will see a different Ferrari in 2014.

“Alonso-Raikkonen is a classic combination that Enzo Ferrari would have liked to see. It will be fun with those two.

“If Kimi drives as he did many times in 2013, it will stimulate Alonso, but what Ferrari really needs is a good car. Otherwise there is nothing to talk about,” he added.

Ecclestone has said that the team with the best all-new V6 engine will win the 2014 title, but he also thinks “luck” will play a big role.

“There is no guarantee that the best driver will win the title,” he insisted. “The title will be for the luckiest one. At the moment I have no favourite.”

[spankyham]

I posted an article in the Ferrari thread quoting Alonso as saying all drivers must obey team orders. I see that as a good sign for Ferrari and a sign that even a driver of Alonso's level understands that at Ferrari the driver must place his ambitions subservient to the teams needs. That in itself is a good thing IMO. It also bodes well for a great driver pairing at Ferrari this year.

We don't know which team will have the best car, but it is clear which team has the best driver pairing!

[What's Burning?]

Only one of them will take a below par car to the podium, and if that happens Kimi will be just as much a liability as Massa. In the end it's about fielding a good car which is the bigger challenge for a team than hiring a good driver.

Ferrari and Mercedes are in a very unique situation this season, we'll just have to see if it's enough to unseat Red Bull.

[sagi58]

Honestly? I think Kimi is a better driver than Massa, so I'm hoping he proves me right!!

[spankyham]

Honestly? I think Kimi is a better driver than Massa, so I'm hoping he proves me right!!

Kimi is definitely a better driver than Felipe. But Kimi needs to be motivated.

[What's Burning?]

Honestly? I think Kimi is a better driver than Massa, so I'm hoping he proves me right!!

Kimi is definitely a better driver than Felipe. But Kimi needs to be motivated.

Exactly.

[sagi58]

Honestly? I think Kimi is a better driver than Massa, so I'm hoping he proves me right!!

Kimi is definitely a better driver than Felipe. But Kimi needs to be motivated.

Hate to say this; but, even with the motivation, Massa didn't have a walk in the park, this past few years!!

[What's Burning?]

Honestly? I think Kimi is a better driver than Massa, so I'm hoping he proves me right!!

Kimi is definitely a better driver than Felipe. But Kimi needs to be motivated.

Hate to say this; but, even with the motivation, Massa didn't have a walk in the park, this past few years!!

Alonso hasn't had it that easy either, it was his supernatural skills that got him close enough in the first place.

[sagi58]

Hate to say this; but, even with the motivation, Massa didn't have a walk in the park, this past few years!!

Alonso hasn't had it that easy either, it was his supernatural skills that got him close enough in the first place.

Too true; but, you'd at least expect Massa to finish in the top 10, if Alonso is on the podium!
Especially because Massa has qualified better a few times and even more so because Massa
insists that he is now going to fight Alonso on the track! Ha!!

[sagi58]

Agree or disagree with these guys?

 wrote:">Ferrari - Alonso vs Raikkonen

Peter Windsor and Rob Wilson take a look at one of the most intriguing pairings on the 2014 F1 grid
- ice cold Kimi and the man who ousted him from Ferrari, Fernando Alonso.

Who will win the political battle, and who will perform on the track?

Two former world champions (Kimi for Ferrari) who are both looking to make 2014 the year of Ferrari.

[youtube]RXNqxgfA5jQ[/youtube]

[sagi58]

TheF1Tv.com wrote:">Raikkonen and Alonso 2014 Dream Team

[youtube]TncTlQrXb9g[/youtube]

[spankyham]

I agree with "the-Nando-in-this-image", its time to wake-up Kimi

[What's Burning?]

I'd be frustrated, at this time last year Massa had thirty points in the bag to Kimmi's 11 this year.