Kimi Care Free Attitude

[Gerhardsa]

Guys,
Is it just me or are some of you guys also getting a bit annoyed with the attitude or "emotional wall" Kimi displays in terms of his career.
God bless the man, but I have to say that I will support Alonso next year, rather than Kimi(eventhough i supported Kimi in Mikes absence). I find that Kimi is getting just a bit too "i dont give a shizznit"'ish!

He a character, thats for sure, but acts like a dick towards and with his engieers, team bosses and the media and everyone in front of cameras basically, which is my honest opinion is getting a bit annoying.
I respect the "I dont really want to worry about the media thing and only race", and only wants to win, but then why is a race win when it comes along not special to him? I just dont get it.
I am of the opinion that you can always do more to be able to be a championship contender, and frankly, I dont see Kimi winning a championship (again) against Alonso or Vettel, even if their cars are equal, never mind Lewis.

Its as if Kimi does not appreciate what he has in terms of a life, day-job, and his talent, which makes me mad, cause lets face it, most of us would give our left nut to be able to just have a drive in a F1 car, let alone do it for a career.

I dunno, its getting a bit annoying to me.
What you guys think?

[bhall]

Kimi's what I like to call "low maintenance." Just give him a car and let him be. Frankly, I think that's ideal, and it's only because drivers have recently been forced to play the additional role of "corporate mouthpiece" that his style now looks a bit out of place.

He's quietly taken all his car will give and sits comfortably in third place for the season. What more can you ask?

Besides, he seemed pretty pleased with his recent win.



Some people just don't require constant attention...

[banibhusan]

First of all, not every driver needs to express like Alonso or Vettel or Hamilton does to be a champion driver.

Secondly, he does care about what's important for his job and that is caring about the team and his engineers. Apart from that he doesn't care what else is happening around. From day 1 he has always run away from media attentions and politics in the sport. The only thing he wants is a team that is not bothered about the politics in the sport and not many PR events. As long as you give him that he will perform at his highest level.

Many thought that he lost motivation back in 2009. But he recently admitted that he was still giving his best, but the car was sh*t. And we all know that he has always been an honest and straight forward character.

[Jeffsvilleusa]

I like Kimi's personality. Lots of questions the media ask drivers are fluff, such as, 'can you describe your emotions after that thrilling race win?' And Kimi doesn't give those types of questions more thought than they deserve. Questions like 'what do you think will happen?' Of course no one knows, so I always appreciated Kimi saying, 'we have to wait and see,' because there really is nothing more to say.

Kimi's response after his victory I think was very level-headed. He was happy but not getting carried away, and I liked a lot of things that he said such as, 'I don't care if people rate me higher than they did 3 hours ago' because he has been driving the same the whole time, which his under-the-radar third place attests to. I think to succeed in life you can't be too concerned about what others think, you just do your best without apologies.

The only instance that came to mind where I would fault Kimi was when he pushed over that photographer before his exile. That wasn't very cool. But other than that I like Kimi's character. He keeps it real. At the least he provides some variety.

[Gerhardsa]

Good opinions chaps.
No correct or wrong answers in this one, just opinion.
I like the guys ability and when Mike retired, I supported him, but lately I get a bit irretated with is "irretated look" towards anything where he has to actually talk to someone and its on TV.
Sure the photo shows he is happy, and we know that, that is why I talk about this "wall" he holds up regarding the emotions when he gets a win, dont say "Well, its not so special" (when Coulthard asked him), when we know that is BS as any win in F1 is special, and he displays that happiness/emotion (as in the picture)

[astracrazy]

its refreshing to see a driver that isn't molded by the marketing department of the teams to suit the needs/expectations of sponsors. I've seen interviews before where he says that F1 is just a job not his life. And in someways his correct and that explains the way he acts. All he wants to do is race he doesn't care about the rest of the show, its good to have someone different.

In fact i think its a compliment for just how good he is. Any team that gets him gets him for his racing and racing only, no marketing comes with it - and yet his been with all the top teams.

[ninogenio]

kimi loves to win as much as anyother driver, he is playing the cool game. look at all the virul adds and stuff. hes taking a different approch to his carrer maybe on advice from his manager/freinds. hes always been a cool costumer but hes playing it up this time around.

i think away from media hes a normal guy. hes just playing a different ball game in terms of personality because it feeds his audience.

[Nando]

Kimi doesn´t give a sh*t.

All he cares about is what happens now. And winning. The rest....meh.

[Websta]

He is every "cool" racing driver stereotype rolled into one really. But if you have ever met him in person, he is a genuinely nice guy - I think it was Ray who had a great story about chasing him down the paddock for his autograph. His media persona is not his real persona.

Offtopic: does anyone know how much Raikkonen's yearly salary was at Ferrari? According to Wikipedia it was 51 million yearly which is obscenely large - I think that would be the largest annual salary in sports history. As usual, the source seemed a bit unreliable - can anyone confirm this figure?

[raymondu999]

Perhaps 51 for his 3 years, Websta?

To be honest - having met Kimi in person before he is quite normal, and even somewhat mischievous. It's just that he feels formalities are tedious. Hence why podiums and media for him are something of a "Oh God not you again..." event for him.

[banibhusan]

Even I have read everywhere that it was a US $51 million annually salary for Kimi at Ferrari. This is something way much more than what Alonso gets now, i.e. US $32 million.

Does anyone have any credible source to confirm this?

[f1316]

I always thought he was a bit of a dick.

The contrast when Schumi left Ferrari and Kimi came in became ever more stark as time went on. Kimi drove the car well when it was good but didn't seem to be involved in every aspect of the car, clawing every advantage he could, the way Schumi did. When the car wasn't the best, he seemed to shrug his shoulders, rather than break his back (figuratively speaking) trying to work around the issues.

And the knock on effect was that he wasn't a team leader and he and Massa shared victories. That cost ferrari in 2008 and could have done in 2007. If you contrast that to the time Alonso's currently putting in on the simulator - as opposed to Kimi who seems to think he can learn a track without putting in much effort - you can see why Ferrari might prefer to work with Alonso.

Anyway, it's all subjective, of course, but I find the monosyllabic answers and miserable disposition a bit of a self-conscious pose to seem "cool".

[Pandamasque]

Kimi just doesn't like to make any effort to perform the accepted "for sure" routine that is the norm in F1 these days. He doesn't seem to put much care into his mumbling when he's just required to fill the air time. But when he has something to say, he speaks his mind. Have you heard him almost spilling the beans about the uncertainty in the Lotus management during the podium interview?! Now that looked like he was taking about something he cares and is worried about. Whereas Alonso's interview looked like a generic speech of a media-trained driver, if you print it out nobody would ever guess the driver.

[adam2003]

Who cares about his attitude as long as hes getting the job done, and he is.

[Jersey Tom]

He a character, thats for sure, but acts like a dick towards and with his engieers, team bosses and the media and everyone in front of cameras basically, which is my honest opinion is getting a bit annoying.

I wouldn't say that. Perhaps it's all relative to what you're used to.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqRBGvA9uec[/youtube]