Williams: Kimi not serious enough

[zenvision]

The news is a bit old and I'd like to hear your views about this:

Formula 1 team boss Sir Frank Williams has revealed his disappointment with Kimi Raikkonen’s failure to fulfil his potential since bursting on to the grand prix scene in 2001.

Williams said in Japan that he believed Raikkonen was not taking the sport “seriously enough” and that he was capable of achieving more with the right mentality.

“When he came in to Formula 1 I thought “oh no, how did we miss him?’” Williams recalled.

“His performances were absolutely stunning.

“I am disappointed that he is not taking F1 seriously enough.”

When asked how he thought Raikkonen would perform at Ferrari when the Finn replaces the retiring Michael Schumacher next year, Williams said:

“Michael Schumacher’s approach is different to Kimi’s, he is much more disciplined.

“I don’t know maybe Jean Todt can sort him [Kimi] out.”

Remarking on Kimi’s well-documented off-track antics, Williams added, “I won’t call it bad behaviour, good luck to him in fact.”

But when asked what Raikkonen needed to put him on the track to title success Williams, whose team has always been famous for its tough approach to driver management, prescribed the Finn “a good talking to, maybe more.”

Having criticised Kimi’s approach however, Williams added that as a life-long racing fan, he would love to see what the Finn could do at the peak of his form.

“I hope he does turn it around and does a brilliant job,” he declared.

[Fan Solo]

I think he is just p*ssed off that his move to possibly one of the most revered constructors has come to jack, I get the feeling that his whole methodology is just give me a car that has a chance of winning & I'll win.


Kimi is going to be very, very hard to beat at Ferrari.

[Frenchblock]

I think he is just p*ssed off that his move to possibly one of the most revered constructors has come to jack, I get the feeling that his whole methodology is just give me a car that has a chance of winning & I'll win.


Kimi is going to be very, very hard to beat at Ferrari.

hahahaha, lol

peoples said the same when he jumped in mclaren team!

you make me all laugh, in 2005 your kimi was "unlucky" because he couldn't finish races but this is not hiding the fact of 2003 where the mclaren was reliable and that KIMI capitulation!

Franck Williams is right, raikonen is gifted as lots of pilots but haven't the "plus" that makes good drivers into exeptional drivers, Alonso is miles away from "kimi" , Ferrari form is dur to FIA behind scene comploting against renault, who would come back from a irational decision that change all car's efficience at the worst time of the season, the summer test off?
FIA gave Ferrari Biggest edges all over this season, and neither mclaren or others could have done the job that renault did to come back and claim a secand title!

without the dampers mockery, Ferrari would be far behind renault today, renault stopped most of their developpements in summer to find ways to keep challenge with FIA, stewards, and Ferrari!

[boban-mk]

Yes maybe Kimi is to ice(cold) i would say. But what he can do. Mercedes can't build an engine that will live two races in a row. McLaren can't build a car that will not breaking appart every second race. His teamate last year instead of helping him he intentionaly do the oposite(in three races he played "come and hit me").
What he can do with all that resource and help:
When he start in the last 5 drivers in Qualifications was always on pole. When he start first or second on Qualifications he was second or third on the grid.
When he drive qulifications, he was always havyer on fuel from all others.
When he didn't had a engine penalty and the engine did hold that race he always win.
He win in race that is a race of decade or more(Japan 2005) from dead last place 20(-1) on the grid.
When he secure race win in three ocassions his engine had blown.
When he did win he was not 2-10 seconds ahead, but with average of 30seconds.
FIA was forced to change qulifications because of Kimi speed.

But even with that problems, he had a chance to be a champion. But Renault was to reliable, and Alonso drive to conventional.

If Ferrari has reliability like this year, and car is good like this year, i think that FIA again will be forced to make some rule changes.

[f1.redbaron]

Well, right away we can rule out winning anything in 2002/2004. Those were Ferrari's years.

However, in both 2003 and 2005 he came seriously close to winning the WDC. While 2003 was a bit of a stretch, in 2005 he had a very realistic chance of winning that championship. Is it his fault that his engines were not reliable? No! (although, some might argue that his overly-agressive driving style was, often enough, causing them). I, personally, believe that he was robbed of what should've been his championship, winning more races than Alonso (no, I'm not saying that because I'm not a big fan of Alonso...it is just my opinion).

His off-track behaviour is another subject, but one I don't really care about. The bottom line is that, when he is out there, he is giving it more than 100% (remeber Suzuka, which was a lost cause, but he still fought until the end).

I remember Tomba, some time ago, saying that he wouldn't like to see Raikkonen in his team because of his aggressive driving style. Yeah, he has a point, but it is exactly that driving style that makes me believe that he is taking this sport very seriously!

[allan]

hahahaha, lol

peoples said the same when he jumped in mclaren team!

you make me all laugh, in 2005 your kimi was "unlucky" because he couldn't finish races but this is not hiding the fact of 2003 where the mclaren was reliable and that KIMI capitulation!

with my all respect, U are the one who makes me laugh!
where were u in 2003? did u sleep in the eurp.GP?
anyway, it's abvious that u r a typical renault fan, and i've learned that discussing with u guys is like talking to walls....
just kidding

[vyselegend]

I, personally, believe that he was robbed of what should've been his championship, winning more races than Alonso

this is not the first time I read this on this forum, but this is totally untrue.

in 2005 both won 7 races.

Kimi won:

1-Spanish GP
2-Monaco GP
3-Canadian GP
4-Hungarian GP
5-Turkish GP
6-Belgian GP
7-Japanese GP

Fernando won:

1-Malaysian GP
2-Bahrein GP
3-San Marino GP
4-European GP
5-French GP
6-German GP
7-Chinese GP

[taleed]

...interesting.

[zenvision]

I think that in the end Renault did a better job than McLaren, and thus Alonso deserved to be the winner. While I said that, I think people would have really loved if Kimi won it too because he showed determination, dedication, fearsome speed and most of all balls. I didn't particularly liked Alonso's defensive approach last year, but I could understand it and it showed it work last and this year.

But please now lets keep this discussion on Kimi dedication to the sport. For one I think Williams is talking from a bit of a position of ignorance because while Kimi may seem not to care about anything. His frustrations, like marshall-shoving (while I condemn it) clearly show his determination and willingness to win, clearly not traits of someone who doesn't care.

[mep]

allan wrote:

anyway, it's abvious that u r a typical renault fan, and i've learned that discussing with u guys is like talking to walls....

Allan this post let me laugh very much but it's absolutly true
you hit the nail on the head.
It seems that some renault fans are standing behind a wall.
They can't see the reallity and they can't hear you.

[-X

[peroa]

Well, one should ask Frank if he takes F1 seriously, starting with BMW and HP leaving just to mention a few issues... (not to mention, that the car is crap)

[zenvision]

you could say many things about Sir Frank, but you cant question his dedication.

[peroa]

you could say many things about Sir Frank, but you cant question his dedication.

No, don`t get me wrong. I absolutely admire Frank and Ron and how they made it from zero to hero in formula 1.

BUT

His latest business decisions were crap so I think it is a little bold to to comment on someone else that he isn`t taking business seriously.

[f1.redbaron]

I, personally, believe that he was robbed of what should've been his championship, winning more races than Alonso

this is not the first time I read this on this forum, but this is totally untrue.

in 2005 both won 7 races.

Kimi won:

1-Spanish GP
2-Monaco GP
3-Canadian GP
4-Hungarian GP
5-Turkish GP
6-Belgian GP
7-Japanese GP

Fernando won:

1-Malaysian GP
2-Bahrein GP
3-San Marino GP
4-European GP
5-French GP
6-German GP
7-Chinese GP

Not that I don't trust you, but I actually did look it up, and, yes, you're right! I stand corrected. I don't know why, but for some reason I thought that the score was 7-6 in Kimi's favour!

Regardless, I believe that everything else I said stands!

[DaveKillens]

I think Sir Frank was referring to the fact that Kimi could be an even better racer if he devoted more time and effort towards his mental and physical conditioning, and spent less time on destructive leisure time.
Sure, we all need personal recreational time to keep from burning out and turning into robots. But alcohol and smoke, drugs and such stuff like that has a negative effect on a person. If you have a few drinks a few days before a race, you're just not at your peak. Yea, the alcohol is long gone from the system, but the body took a penalty, and depleted reserves to flush out the crap from the system.
I know from personal experiences from tons of sim racing that even just one drink, or some recreational puff puff does take that sharp edge away. And that's that last one or two percent that makes a difference in between acing every corner the entire race, or just getting around OK.