Kimi Raikkonen performance

[NL_Fer]

Over the years, Raikkonen’s performance is looking like an elevator going up and down. Almost snatched the title in his 3rd year of F1 with only 2 points behind Schumacher. The fastest by far in 2005, only held back by reliability DNF’s. Jumped in the Ferrari in 2007 to take his only WDC title. Years between, 02 04 06 08 not that spectacular.

His second stint, just the same. Jumped in the Lotus in 2012 and took 3rd occasionaly challenging a Redbull. 2013 was not bad either, rewarding him his Ferrari drive back form 2014 till now. But it has never been spectacular since. Alonso and Vettel are both faster than Kimi and it seems the former WDC is a nr2 driver 10 years later.

Can someone make sense from Raikkonen’s performance? Some suggest he only has some unique tyre management skills, so bad tyres make him look better. Like in 2005 single tyre races and 2012 --- Pirelli’s. But how about his 2007 performance? McLaren was compatitive and from 2008 he was dropping off.

Who can make this mystery more clear?

[Manoah2u]

Are these threads really neccesary?

[roon]

Some suggest he only has some unique tyre management skills, so bad tyres make him look better. Like in 2005 single tyre races and 2012 --- Pirelli’s.

If personality traits transfer to the track, maybe he's just supremely unflappable. Never upset, never offended, works with whatever situation he finds himself in without expectations. So, there's no good or bad tire to him, just a tire.

[3jawchuck]

He's one of those drivers that has to have everything close to perfect in order to get anything out of the car. Like Button maybe. Of course all drivers like the car to be perfect, but some can drive well regardless. Räikkönen isn't one of them.

[Vasconia]

He's one of those drivers that has to have everything close to perfect in order to get anything out of the car. Like Button maybe. Of course all drivers like the car to be perfect, but some can drive well regardless. Räikkönen isn't one of them.

I think Button is much better adapting himself to different set-ups/cars/tyres. But you are right when you say that Kimi needs everything to feel comfortable and deliver.

[Just_a_fan]

Kimi hates understeer. Absolutely loathes it. Sadly, current cars and tyres run with understeer to protect the tyres.

The most common complaint you'll hear from Kimi is that he has understeer.

[3jawchuck]

Is it me or did most of this thread disappear?

[Just_a_fan]

It has disappeared, yes, which makes mine look like the opening post. Bizarre. Perhaps the mods should just delete the whole thread and be done with it.

[sosic2121]

Shame about the thread, Kimi's (lack of) performance is a mistery to me.
I believe that with a car that suits him he's at least as fast as Vettel...

[Fulcrum]

Kimi's best performances came in the 'bullet-proof' tyre era, and it's fair to say the cars have evolved massively since then (while he might not have).

The biggest issue Kimi has had throughout his career, relative to the cars he's driven, has been qualifying. He should have generally qualified higher, making his races easier. Couple that with a general tentativeness when passing, and its no wonder he's under performed - irrespective of what his outright speed may have been.

Now he's obviously older, probably beginning to flag a bit in the races, reactions not quite what they were, so the issues become more pronounced.

Earlier this year I analysed some laps of China, where Vettel was in close proximity, and Raikkonen always slightly missed his breaking point for turn 14 after the long back straight. Vettel consistently gained small amounts of time through that corner relative to Raikkonen. Kimi has always been excellent through fast corners, but he's nothing special on the brakes - certainly not in Hamilton's class.

Another element worth mentioning, which is far more relevant now than when Kimi started his F1 career, is his attitude to the simulator. I've read previously that he doesn't do much simulator work, and this probably doesn't help him, now that 'real' testing is so limited.

[turbof1]

So guys,

We apparently had a server glitch and a few posts in random threads got deleted. Now luckily Steven runs backups and we can restore them.

Our apologies about that.

[Schuttelberg]

I think he should have been given the sack immediately after 2014. His second Ferrari stint, in my opinion has made me re-evaluate every car/team mate he's had. I generally read a LOT about Formula 1 and I read somewhere that Raikkonen has had 12-13 podiums in his years as Vettel's team mate. The calculation began from 2015 considering the fact that the normal retort is that Kimi takes time to adjust/adapt. So considering he had one year to resettle and adapt to the hybrid era, he had 3 podiums in 2015. IIRC, one was Singapore where Sebastian hammered him in Q by 0.8 seconds, one was Abu Dhabi where Vettel started at the back and one deserved podium in Bahrain. He was bit better in 2016 as he got 4 podiums and IIRC, Vettel wasn't at his absolute best. Even then, without Ferrari errors he would have had wins in Australia and Canada, a spot Kimi has not been in since his Lotus years. This year, I think Kimi has 6-7 podiums and while he was good in Silverstone, he really had nowhere else to finish in Monaco and Hungary. I mean, podiums are the bare min in the Ferrari this year.

What I'm trying to say is that even his podiums aren't good performances. Sure, it looks nice on the face of it but that's what the Ferrari has been capable of in all three years and Kimi appears once in every 4-5 races (mostly a result of others crashing). Hardly a solace. IMHO, Ferrari cannot win the WCC with Raikkonen in the second car unless they make a 2014-16 style Mercedes. This also harms Ferrari's chances in the WDC as Vettel is hardly challenged.

[Edax]

Over the years, Raikkonen’s performance is looking like an elevator going up and down. Almost snatched the title in his 3rd year of F1 with only 2 points behind Schumacher. The fastest by far in 2005, only held back by reliability DNF’s. Jumped in the Ferrari in 2007 to take his only WDC title. Years between, 02 04 06 08 not that spectacular.

His second stint, just the same. Jumped in the Lotus in 2012 and took 3rd occasionaly challenging a Redbull. 2013 was not bad either, rewarding him his Ferrari drive back form 2014 till now. But it has never been spectacular since. Alonso and Vettel are both faster than Kimi and it seems the former WDC is a nr2 driver 10 years later.

Can someone make sense from Raikkonen’s performance? Some suggest he only has some unique tyre management skills, so bad tyres make him look better. Like in 2005 single tyre races and 2012 --- Pirelli’s. But how about his 2007 performance? McLaren was compatitive and from 2008 he was dropping off.

Who can make this mystery more clear?

It has been well documented that Kimi is very sensitive to car behavior. In particular he wants a very crisp frond end. He once demanded a steering rack change during a Monaco qualifying, not because it was not working but because he was not happy about the handling (Nearly missed out on Q).

My guess is that he is suffering from the Schumacher syndrom. At the height of Schumachers dominance at Ferrari, the whole car was built around his driving style. Schumacher wanted his cars to be edgy to help him in directional changes. Others found it nervous and on the edge of undrivable, and had a lot of problems adapting. That car made a lot of drivers look bad. Same reportedly was true for KC Stoners bikes.

Ferrari does not seem the team to compromise their car to fit their second driver. Moreover I can imagine that while Raikkonen is partying in Vegas, Vettel is busy in Maranello setting up the car to his liking.

[foxmulder_ms]

Raikonnen is one of the bests out there. He is just an aloof dude. If he thinks he can win something he gets better, if he thinks him working harder wont bring anything additional he just does not even try. His lotus years were prime example of this. When he sniffed a good result he become better and better. "I know what I am doing" is a legendary moment. That all time most best lab records he has is not a coincidence, he is one of the most talented out there. Actually I think he was really good in this (2017 for future reference ) year. He gave 2 wins as gifts to Vettel. His services been utilized only as s guinea pig for everything during race/practice/qualifying by Ferrari. I really think he was very good this year.

[PlatinumZealot]

Can someone make sense from Raikkonen’s performance?

Easy. He is only competitive when he has the fastest most perfectly balanced car. McLaren 2003, 2005. Ferrari 2007, 2008. Lotus 2012, 2013 (were actually the joint fastest cars IMO).