Will Raikkonen/Ferrari be any good?

[RH1300S]

Just an idle thought.

Dear old Kimi is very fast, but will Ferrari have the structures to operate with (shall we say ) a driver who is a little bit more "plug & play".

I fear that things will go downhill fairly soon (if not in year one).

Would be a great waste of a talent.....perhaps some justice too, as the fastest drivers have rarely been the greatest.........

[pRo]

Someone (was is Lauda) was just guessing the same. That Raikkonen might not be the person Schumi was, in keeping the team working as it has been.

Can't seem to find the article now, anyone..?

[monkeyboy1976]

I have thought the same thing RH.
Ferrari has been built around one driver for the past 10 seasons. That driver has been the main focus and the car design has depended on his feedback and relationship with the team.
Kimi may not fit in so well and I am not sure about his feedback qualities.
Ferrari has been known to descend into utter chaos in the past.
Anyhoo. Time for change. New era. Bring it on.

[pRo]

I am not sure about his feedback qualities.

People who have worked with him are saying he's one of the best and can give very accurate feedback. It works for the brits and especially for a "politically correct" team like McLaren. With them you can just do your job and say things how they are. They'll take the feedback and work on it. No hard feelings if you say something sucks.

I believe italians are "too emotional" for that. They might not value someone who just shows up, does his job and says what he thinks. I'm afraid that's too cold for italians. Schumi was great in that area, visiting the factory every now and then, making his best to show everyone that they all matter. I'm afraid Raikkonen can't do that.

Yes, I know Ferrari isn't just italians. I still fear for it. I hope I'm wrong.

[boban-mk]

I hope for better. I think IceMan is the best and by far fastest driver in F1. I know that will not suffer from most stupid failures like in McLaren. After Bahrain and Monaco, i talk to my f1 friends about, what more stuppid than that can happen in McLaren Squad. Money and brain don't go together.

Ferrari have best engine in the moment, so i'm mostly happy about that. Currently Mercedes couldn't produce an engine that can hold Kimi on two races. If they got a clue about that this year and let him drive 10 laps in all tests per race, so he don't have a engine failure, but engine is still not so reliable. Ferrari and Reno drives 50 laps in race tests.

Go Kimi

[zenvision]

i think you are refering to this one, from autosport:

Former world champion Niki Lauda believes Ferrari could fall apart in the next few years, and Kimi Raikkonen is not the man to help rebuild the Italian team.

And the Austrian has warned the Finnish driver of the Italian media, telling Raikkonen that any scandal in his personal life will be magnified by the local press.

"Ferrari will need to rebuild themselves," Lauda wrote in his column for German magazine Focus. "Question is, will they rebuild as well as they did with Michael, or will it be the same old Italian chaos? Kimi must be careful that, after Michael, everything won't fall to pieces.

"It may happen, even more so because one thing is for sure: Raikkonen can drive fast, but he can't do anything else, so Ferrari must give him a complete car.

"It worked at McLaren, but they're not an emotional team like Ferrari. The Italians, by contrast, need the human component, and Michael was ideal for this. He could get the whole thing working. I can't see Kimi doing the same."

Lauda, who won two of his three championship titles with Ferrari, in 1975 and 1977, is also wary of Raikkonen's personal habits and how he may be perceived by the Italian press.

"Michael has managed to survive the press for 11 years with his private life," Lauda wrote. "Raikkonen will have to be able to do that as well.

"Italy is fully behind Ferrari, emotionally. But if they don't win, as it also happened to Schumacher, and if Kimi was found drunk, the effect would be ten times more negative than elsewhere.

"Italians look for excuses by nature, because they try to avoid being guilty themselves. And that's why Kimi risks a lot: one beer too many and he becomes the scapegoat for everything, even though he's innocent. But try explaining that to the Italian fans..."

---

that said, i think kimi will do really well at ferrari, his contract is only 3 years long so i dont think he'll suffer a backlash of brain-drain so to say, although the translation will be smooth since they have been working on this for years. you can say kimi was "plug & play" at mclaren because mclaren desired it so and now we'll see what kimi is made of next year, but i think this year's momentum + other things like engine freeze, and the tyre change will propel kimi to the title unless something drastic happens.

[RH1300S]

Fair comment zenvision

I used the plug & play slightly tongue in cheek; to make the distinction between the way MS has evolved with the team and the Kimi would seem to work.

I don't question his feedback - more Ferrari having the structures to work with a different ethic.

[Tom]

Perhaps it will spur Ferrari on, a new driver, a new start, nothing to loose?

It seems very likely Kimi will not have the number '1' on the front of his Ferrari next year anyway. Go for it I say, I believe they can do it.

[zenvision]

probably #0 or #3 though tom although i agree with what you said. if they ever needed the time to install new blood with the old big guns, its now.

[monkeyboy1976]

Kimi will have number "0" if Schumacher and Ferrari win both championships.

Scenarios are thus (I think) :-

Scenario 1
Alonso wins WDC, Renault win WCC
2007 Renault car numbers 3&4
2007 Ferrari car numbers 5&6
2007 McLaren car numbers 1&2

Scenario 2
Alonso wins WDC, Ferrari win WCC
2007 Renault car numbers 5&6
2007 Ferrari car numbers 3&4
2007 McLaren car numbers 1&2

Scenario 3
Schumacher wins WDC, Renault win WCC
2007 Renault car numbers 0&2
2007 Ferrari car numbers 3&4
2007 McLaren car numbers 5&6

Scenario 4
Schumacher wins WDC, Ferrari win WCC
2007 Renault car numbers 3&4
2007 Ferrari car numbers 0&2
2007 McLaren car numbers 5&6

[DaveKillens]

Despite my comments on Schumacher, he is an incredibly talented and capable man. Not only in driving, but contributing to the team organization on almost all levels. When he came to Ferrari, it was a well funded but chaotic team. Michael and others totally rebuilt the organization into a very potent force. But I doubt they will revert to the previous version before Michael. I do believe they can never be as capable as before, without Michael, but it's hard to imagine a quality organization falling apart with the departure of a few key people.
And there are many other factors other than just the loss of Schumacher. Ferrari will no longer be able to expect and enjoy the kind of budget they had in the heyday of Schumacher. Trust me, it takes money to go fast.
I do expect a drop from the dominating position Ferrari had, but they should still be able to contend withanyone. And even if Kimi isn't as competent in giving feedback to the engineers, Ferrari have a very good testing organization.
I just wonder how many changes Ferrari will make now that Schumacher is going. Will they come out with a totally redesigned car? Most likely. That alone takes a while to develop.

[ss.vamsikrishna]

i dont know what is the problem with u people y u hate kimi so much , he has always proved given a good car he is the quickest i hope u people were not sleeping through 2005 season so u would have seen him doing that. anyways i agree he parties and drinks a lot that is a big problem.
let us wait and watch ........kimi in red ..........

[RH1300S]

I wouldn't call this Kimi hating. I'm voicing a concern that Ferrari may not have a structure that can deal with a change from MS style of team leader to a Kimi style driver.

No doubt, Kimi is a fearsome racer..........

[Vasco]

Its probably the reason why MS is still going to be around with ferrari after he retires. I read that he will be a sort of coach to the new drivers, which I think is more like an advisor to kimi and massa.

[saam]

I think the real concern thats on the back of peoples mind is " are KIMI and FERRAI" going to make F1 boring again.....

I dont blame you for thinking this I really dont...