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[What's Burning?]

I know he's one of the most popular drivers on and off track, there is a tendency to give him a pass where other drivers would take heat, maybe it's because of the charisma or jovial nature, don't know. But he's back at Ferrari and getting paid to drive once again for the team that once kicked him out for poor performance. Somehow the thought was that he'd do much better this time and at the beginning of the season the driver duo of Alonso and Räikkönen were touted by most as THE dominant pairing on the grid. Well fast forward through to nearly the mid point of the season and he's 60 points adrift of his teammate and more notably under performing massively when compared to the guy Ferrari kicked out to make space for him.

I hope the technical side of the scuderia is run better than the guys in charge of choosing the talent. He's contributed next to nothing this year to date and it's one of the reasons Ferrari finds itself with Force India nipping at their heels for third in the constructors. I want to be fair, and I have seen Kimi drive phenomenally on his day, but he's looking much worse for wear in his second stint in red overalls, and giving Ferrari a pretty poor ROI. I can't see him staying another year if the second half of his season is anything like the first half.

[Hammer278]

I suggest Ferrari pay him off with another $25 million to retire for the next 3 years....and bring back Massa.

[geetface9]

I would say they should pick up perez, but if this year is any indication of next, perez should stay at force india and continue to smoke hulkenberg on race pace when his car doesn't falter and massa doesn't push it too close

On topic though, I honestly had zero doubt in my mind that alonso would be smoking raikkonen. As I mentioned in another thread, I do not expect a 'new' driver in a team to beat the veteran driver in a team. However, with the way raikkonen is played up by his fans and many in the F1 community in general, I expected more of him.

[Ferrari man 009]

Kimi has underperformed massively and if he doesn't show signs of improvement I would seriously consider Hulkenburg for 2015 (who probably should have got the 2014 drive in my opinion, although I can see why they went for Kimi)

[geetface9]

Question is, will the 2015 car be competitive? I was loathing mclaren's decision to drop perez last year but now I am glad they dropped him, and I'm sure sergio perez is too.

[Ferrari man 009]

Question is, will the 2015 car be competitive? I was loathing mclaren's decision to drop perez last year but now I am glad they dropped him, and I'm sure sergio perez is too.

Not sure, but it appears Ferrari have made progress. At a track I would consider to be a "power track" Alonso was a lot more competitive and if wasnt for a poor first stint on grained options he may well have been right in amongst the Williams fighting for the final podium. His pace in the middle stint matched the leaders even after Perez pitted and the Ferrari was very good on the prime tyre in terms of less degredation.

[What's Burning?]

The only reason anyone matched the leader's pace was because they were double digits down on the straight to nurse their rear brakes. Don't kid yourself about any real progress made. Alonso and Mags overdrove their cars today and did a fine job at that.

[Ferrari man 009]

The only reason anyone matched the leader's pace was because they were double digits down on the straight to nurse their rear brakes. Don't kid yourself about any real progress made. Alonso and Mags overdrove their cars today and did a fine job at that.

I take your point but in Canada which has similar long straights Alonso was nowhere and behind McLaren and Force India, in Austria they closed the gap in qualifying and jumped both McLaren and FI, and also leapt ahead of RBR on pace.

[What's Burning?]

The only reason anyone matched the leader's pace was because they were double digits down on the straight to nurse their rear brakes. Don't kid yourself about any real progress made. Alonso and Mags overdrove their cars today and did a fine job at that.

I take your point but in Canada which has similar long straights Alonso was nowhere and behind McLaren and Force India, in Austria they closed the gap in qualifying and jumped both McLaren and FI, and also leapt ahead of RBR on pace.

The issue in Canada for Ferrari was more likely tires than power. It's a brutal circuit. Frankly the nature of the A1 on the cars today surprised me a bit.

[LewEngBridewell]

I once posted here (years ago) that Kimi Raikkonen can be, on his day, unstoppably brilliant. But also, he has periods of mediocrity, when he just seems to go off the boil, as if he was loosing interest. I remember being flamed by another user for saying this.

However, I stand by what I said, and it's happening all over again.

In the late stages of Raikkonen's time with Lotus, Romain Grosjean began to overshadow him. How about giving the Frenchman a crack at the Scuderia? Hulkenberg and Perez are also good choices, or even Jean Erc Vergne!

[Hammer278]

Kimi can drive backwards during a race and some people will find it hilarious.

In Austria they asked him for two tenths more per lap and his response was "GIMME MOAR POWAR DENNN" and Brundle and Crofty giggled like school girls.

[ckilger12]

I am a huge Kimi fan....I followed the earlier parts of his career at McLaren and when he won his championship at Ferrari...he does have ups and downs, sometimes more one way than the other. I just love the I don't give a f*** attitude and bluntness. I was hoping for him to be able to compete more with Alonso this year, they both are great drivers when they are on. This year he has been open and honest about how he needs something very specific form the car to get it to feel right and have the confidence in the car to drive hard. That is where Alonso is different, he will throw the car around and make it perform. That's his driving style. Going into this season it was tough to tell who would conquer the rules better than that other. Just think if he would have stayed a Lotus it would be even worse. The second half might prove to be better...hopefully after the summer break he can salvage some of the season and compete.

[What's Burning?]

...and not a single person has acknowledged that I went out of my way to get the accentuation right?

[darwin dali]

...and not a single person has acknowledged that I went out of my way to get the accentuation right?

For an American not bad

[What's Burning?]

...and not a single person has acknowledged that I went out of my way to get the accentuation right?

For an American not bad

I'm only half American, just like you.