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[grant977]

I am tired of Räikkönen crap. How in the hell does he set fastest laps near the end of each race, and completly suck in the beginning and qualifying? I wish Ferrari would dump him and get some one of these young guns a chance. I thinks Kimi's attitude is poisiong the team, they just do not seem as crisp and they used to be.

[EwanM]

I am tired of Räikkönen crap. How in the hell does he set fastest laps near the end of each race, and completly suck in the beginning and qualifying? I wish Ferrari would dump him and get some one of these young guns a chance. I thinks Kimi's attitude is poisiong the team, they just do not seem as crisp and they used to be.

Well what i'm going to say has been said so many times before on this forum.
Kimi has an attitude problem. There is no doubting he has massive talent, but he seems to be stubborn to change his ways and try to improve his driving/offer more input for the team.
Massa has done the donkey's work out of the 2 on development this year, whereas Kimi just turns up, shrugs his shoulders when it goes wrong or takes the praise when it goes right.
I was surprised Ferrari extended his contract, especially after today's performance. The man just appears to have no interest in it - mind you it is hard to read how he feels most of the time.
He probably deserves his world title on merit - ableit slightly lucky due to the Mclaren civil war last season. He had such rotten luck in 05 and 03.
I dunno if he'll ever be the world champion again. Mind you he could turn up next year and blow them all away - or he could turn up and drive for his cheque.
Ferrari aren't doing too badly tho. It ain't the meltdown in Marranello that some of the tefosi are claiming. They still lead the constructors and they still have an honest shot at the title in Massa.
There main problem is that they are no longer a team focused on one driver, who calls most of the shots. That driver of course was the best of his era - arguably one of the best. That is a massive pair of shoes for Kimi to fill. Maybe slack needs cut?

[scotty]

The whole fastest lap thing could be attributed to various reasons, eg in Hungary he was stuck behind Alonso for ages, yet in clear air we saw his potential race pace. Today, the Ferrari didn't overheat it's tyres on the drying track like Hamilton's seemed to - hence the lap times.

There also may be a fundamental clash of driving style vs car characteristics, for example Massa is possibly able to get heat into his tyres better for a quali lap - who knows, i'm just theorising. He has proven in the past that he has the speed, and that wouldn't suddenly just go away, making his lack of quali pace confusing. Maybe he is suffering from not doing as much testing as Massa...

Of course, it's also possible to say he simply doesn't care at all anymore, but i severely doubt that. He was fast enough at Spa wasn't he?

[onelapdown]

He certainly wouldn't be the first World Champion to mount a poor defence of his title, but with the car he's got he should be doing MUCH, MUCH better. Never mind the stuff about heating tyres up - he had that problem last year and just found the trick in time to save his season. However, this problem smacks of a guy who simply won't do his homework properly. Hamilton had a big problem with his driving at the start of the year, but he worked hard and now he's probably the best all-round driver in the field. Massa has also worked hard to re-invent himself. Raikkonen seems happy to let his unquestionable talent do the work for him which at this level is just not enough. The guy needs a rocket up his arse , and if I was Ferrari I'd have let him stew a bit longer rather than give him a new contract now.

[Malibu327]

I know I'm getting into a bee's nest here, but I've been a Kimi fan since he started. The man is fast. I would contend that Hamilton and Massa are the best qualifiers in the field but when it comes to race day, Kimi is still the best. I think today he played his role in trying to earn points for the team (to no avail) because he knows he's not going to defend his title. As far as his attitude, he's always been impossible to read. Whether his McLaren was on fire (most of the time) or he was winning (some of the time) he was the same as he is now. It's part of what makes him a great driver. I would contend that Alonso has a way worse temper and that Hamilton is way more cocky and disrespectful than someone who has not won a title should be. Not that winning the championship is an excuse for bad behavior but I imagine ol' LH will be an even bigger prick than all of them once he finally gets his title - which I'm sure he will.

Besides, if you look back over the last few seasons, it's a wonder Kimi's still alive much less won a championship with his notoriously bad luck.

[Hanwombat]

When Kimi actually puts his mind to it, he can drive and also he is quick, but most times now he just seems to be off in daydreaming land ? Prepares he drives around thinking what he is going to have for dinner tonight or something, then once hes figured that out he starts to race

[FerrariFan63]

I think it's happened too many times for it to just be special circumstances. Kimi is not driving to his potential, and I certainly hope he bucks up his ideas.

In how many seasons has KR been beaten by his teammate? I don't remember it happening at all. (checks). Beaten solidly by Coulthard in 2002. But that was early days for Raikkonen. Beaten by Heidfeld in 2001 too. But over the last six years, he's beaten all his teammates. Maybe he's started taking too many things for granted.

[Dardas]

I lIke Kimi pretty much.
Up to last year everyone was calling him Ice Man. Now everybody suddenly is a shrink and can tell what he supposed to do to drive better. I guess that's the price for winning WDC.
He is struggling this year, maybe to much pressure, maybe to much tninking shall I retire or shall I stay?
I'm sure Ferrari would not resign him if they would not feel he still can win for them WDC. If not this season then he got 2 next. Cause I don't see they hire him to help Filippe for the next 2 years.
Now Kubica has a bit gap on him I would like see him fighting for a Singapur win with Heiki, Kubica 3rd, Massa and Lewise retired due to problems with car lights ;P
That would make WDC open till very late

[f1usa]

I think the politics, bias and corruption of the FIA and its relationship to Ferrari has turned Kimi off. I don't know about the rest of you on this forum, but how could Kimi take any pride in winning the 07 WDC. A driver wants to earn his wins on track, and this year smells of the 07 season.

[AKR]

Don't worry, Kimi has just had a bad season. After Massa wins it this year, Kimi will experience this after the end of the 2009 season.

[grant977]

Don't get me wrong I like Kimi, but I just get tired of his seeming lack of enthusiasm. A top level team like ferrari needs sombody that is at least half way willing to help develope the car. Thats why they made some much headway when dare I say it Micheal Was there. If the rumors I herd about Ferrari hurring Micheal into retirement to aquire Kimi were true, then they made a very grave error.

By the way I am a rare breed I like both Ferrari and Mclaren. I always have senese I stated paying some attention to F1 in 1998.

[bjsulla]

I am tired of Räikkönen crap.

And I am just glad that someone else did manage to find the umlaut characters...

Seriously, this isn't the first race where Kimi has been slow and all of a sudden set the fastest lap of the race. Too much Koskenkorva, bad motivation, lack of a pleasing girlfriend or just unlucky? I don't know. But my guess is that the he needs stronger management that pushes him harder.

I read an article about the new Ferrari simulator and Kimi's response was that he did not use simulators that much. My first thougt was that why does'nt they force you to use it, it could surely help you at the moment. When Kimi was driving for McLaren and crashed out in Monaco, he headed directly to his yacht and started to hang around with his buddies ( ) I was furious. Driving is your effing job and you get a lot of effing money to do it. Show some effing interest.

By the way love that picture AKR, you can actually see Kimi smile...

[cap-dude]

I dunno what to think. I think his race pace is astounding to the point where he makes massa look bad. That from the guy who's backed Massa from the first race I watched him in.

But he just seems to be struggling lately. I think it might be his smoother driving style not getting heat into the tyres. Then in races, his tyres are preserved. He eventually gets heat on barely worn tyres, has light fuel and can pull of some stunning lap times. Just my lame theory.

But look at Spa. The track where he's dominated, and in quali, despite KImi having a lap less fuel, Massa beat him by about 3 tenths. Thats pretty brilliant from Massa, and poor from Kimi.

Still heres a question. Massa and Kimi are signed for 2OO9 and 2O1O. Does that mean Massa will lead Ferrari both years. Seems plausible considering Massa improves every year.

[Denthúl]

I dunno what to think. I think his race pace is astounding to the point where he makes massa look bad. That from the guy who's backed Massa from the first race I watched him in.

But he just seems to be struggling lately. I think it might be his smoother driving style not getting heat into the tyres. Then in races, his tyres are preserved. He eventually gets heat on barely worn tyres, has light fuel and can pull of some stunning lap times. Just my lame theory.

But look at Spa. The track where he's dominated, and in quali, despite KImi having a lap less fuel, Massa beat him by about 3 tenths. Thats pretty brilliant from Massa, and poor from Kimi.

Still heres a question. Massa and Kimi are signed for 2OO9 and 2O1O. Does that mean Massa will lead Ferrari both years. Seems plausible considering Massa improves every year.

Depends on how the car is on its tyres for those seasons, really. I fully expect that, with a car that he can qualify properly in and a bit of motivation, Raikkonen would still beat Massa. Without the motivation, though, I can really see Massa's extraordinary effort paying off again and getting him ahead of Raikkonen.

[formula1fan1]

I thought RAI did a good job today until the very end. He was 16th along with Massa's 18th after the Safety Car period. He clawed his way up beautifully and crashed while pushing hard and racing hard. It was good to see at least someone doing this at the closing stages, and it's good to see all this talk about his motivation being low is bunk. It was racing, pure and simple. He was also catching HAM just before the safety car started.

Good race, better than I expected.