f1316 wrote: ↑15 Apr 2017, 16:18
I wasn't really expecting him to continue next season regardless of results tbh; even if he won the world championship, that would be the ultimate way to bow out.
But it feels like the end of his career to me, so personally I always thought he was gone next year - not necessarily a reflection on his performance so far
( although on a different note, I do think he's been poor; might be controversial but he never convinced me as a Ferrari driver - even when he was winning the world championships I didn't feel like he was the guy eaking every ounce of performance out of the car - rather the McLaren drivers were the ones doing that - and it was always a disappointment for someone filling Schumacher's race boots).
I think it's last season too, he's been in F1 since 2001 and peaked early. 2003 and 2005 he was absolutely top notch. Nowadays he is still a good driver to have in the team. He brings in steady points and stays out of trouble, for the most part.
Kimi is 37 years old, of course Ferrari knows that he will lose some speed, they all do. Remember Coulthard when he was in RedBull, it was awful, Schumacher was also surprisingly bad in his comeback.
I can't recall any 37 year old (or older) driver from the last 20 years that has been on the same level as Kimi, so he is actually doing a very good job for a guy of his age.
But it's time to step down and make room for someone else, I'd love to see Grosjean in the Ferrari. The downside of having him is that he is also very touchy about how the car behaves, much like Kimi. On a good day GRO is among the fastest IMHO.