Is Kimi Raikkonen overrated?

[Emmcee]

I ask this question as it has become a hot topic on the other forum iam on. Is kimi past his used by date? I say yes and no, he is still scoring well but seb has come into what was kimis team after fernando left and had hit the ground running and staked his claim as number one driver. Whats your thoughts?

[Samraj_official]

I very much think that kimi has lost his speed and what he should do now to protect his legacy is to step down as a formula 1 driver and make way for hulkenberg/bottas or some good driver of that sorts, anyway kimi has a very different character as a racing driver that what makes f1 fans like him and in my view its not being called as overrated but something like "the most desired by fans driver"

[McMrocks]

In a F1 where Pastor Maldonado is welcome, Kimi needs to be welcome too.

He's still scoring regularly and is not too far off the pace. I think Ferrari chose him because he's the trouble-free number 2 driver. Never going to complain, never going to make stupid comments. Furthermore he's got a large fan-base behind him which now roots for Ferrari, buying their caps and jerseys.

And we all know that Vettel and Kimi are in BIG love( get a long very well).

He's the best number 2 Ferrari could get.

[Emmcee]

In a F1 where Pastor Maldonado is welcome, Kimi needs to be welcome too.

He's still scoring regularly and is not too far off the pace. I think Ferrari chose him because he's the trouble-free number 2 driver. Never going to complain, never going to make stupid comments. Furthermore he's got a large fan-base behind him which now roots for Ferrari, buying their caps and jerseys.

And we all know that Vettel and Kimi are in BIG love( get a long very well).

He's the best number 2 Ferrari could get.

Though iam not much of a kimi fan, this post makes excellence sense, especially when comparing Maldonado. That guys till marks me laugh when he came out and said he could win the championship after winning in Spain in 2012.

[Samraj_official]

but in a big organization like scuderia ferrari and their new boss they cant keep a driver who performs below expectations or slower than his teammate bu 0.3s at an average, but for a team like Lotus they cant keep kimi since they are struggling quite a lot and hence there's where MALDONATOR comes into play...so as far as kimi as concerned he must retire for good,
alonso also appeared in F1 as around the same time as kimi but alonso has never lost his speed

[Emmcee]

but in a big organization like scuderia ferrari and their new boss they cant keep a driver who performs below expectations or slower than his teammate bu 0.3s at an average, but for a team like Lotus they cant keep kimi since they are struggling quite a lot and hence there's where MALDONATOR comes into play...so as far as kimi as concerned he must retire for good,
alonso also appeared in F1 as around the same time as kimi but alonso has never lost his speed

Yep I agree with you mate.

[SilverArrow10]

Only problem Kimi has had has been his two latest teammates, being two of the three drivers that are probably better than him has just made him look bad, which he isn't, he's a world champion after all. Stick him next to someone else that isn't Hamilton, Alonso or Vettel and he would look fine. He is approaching retirement though.

[Andres125sx]

In a F1 where Pastor Maldonado is welcome, Kimi needs to be welcome too.

He's still scoring regularly and is not too far off the pace. I think Ferrari chose him because he's the trouble-free number 2 driver. Never going to complain, never going to make stupid comments. Furthermore he's got a large fan-base behind him which now roots for Ferrari, buying their caps and jerseys.

And we all know that Vettel and Kimi are in BIG love( get a long very well).

He's the best number 2 Ferrari could get.

Do you really think Ferrari is paying Kimi a $26 million salary to be #2?

There are many many drivers who would accept #2 role into Ferrari and will receive not even a quarter of that salary, while still being fast drivers

http://www.totalsportek.com/f1/formula- ... -salaries/

And yes, IMHO Kimi is overrated, but not because he´s not fast, but because he has been considered one of the 4 big boys into F1 and I don´t think he´s that good. Maybe the best after those 3, but not at their level

[Emmcee]

In a F1 where Pastor Maldonado is welcome, Kimi needs to be welcome too.

He's still scoring regularly and is not too far off the pace. I think Ferrari chose him because he's the trouble-free number 2 driver. Never going to complain, never going to make stupid comments. Furthermore he's got a large fan-base behind him which now roots for Ferrari, buying their caps and jerseys.

And we all know that Vettel and Kimi are in BIG love( get a long very well).

He's the best number 2 Ferrari could get.

Do you really think Ferrari is paying Kimi a $26 million salary to be #2?

There are many many drivers who would accept #2 role into Ferrari and will receive not even a quarter of that salary, while still being fast drivers

http://www.totalsportek.com/f1/formula- ... -salaries/

And yes, IMHO Kimi is overrated, but not because he´s not fast, but because he has been considered one of the 4 big boys into F1 and I don´t think he´s that good. Maybe the best after those 3, but not at their level

Yep well said, he has pace and that's without a doubt, his fastest laps total prooves that but he lacks the consistancy of the top tier drivers. Alonso made him look very ordinary but he is doing better this year but IMO with the hype he brings its not enough, I expect Bottas to take his seat tbh.

[megz]

I've always been a massive fan of Kimi and I'd be the first to suggest that he just isn't what he used to be. 2012 and 2013 were great for him and he did do a pretty good job (bar the final third of 2013 where Grosjean started to look good against Kimi).

He's never been a great qualifier and has always been quite calculating - only choosing to make an overtake when it makes sense. Due to this you don't see him making crazy Verstappen/Hamilton/Maldonado lunges but instead makes the most of high percentage opportunities - this probably makes him look slow at times, or that he's happy to follow someone.

Alonso made him look poor last year but Alonso is a super driver and was ingrained in Ferrari at the time. Vettel hasn't made him look as bad. While he continues to be pretty poor in quali by comparison he seems to race better than Vettel. Vettel's rise from the back in Canada wasn't a great drive, riddled with incidents, drives on the grass, corner cuts etc. We'll see how this season pans out. If he drops back further or continues to be outscorred by Vettel we could probably safely put him in the class below the likes of Hamilton, Alonso (arguably Vettel).

[Emmcee]

I think when kimi came back with lotus, the environment was perfect for him and that's why he did so well, I highly doubt lotus would be as "professional" as Ferrari and maybe kimi likes that flexibility. This year with seb IMO shows just how good kimi could be, seb has come into a new environment and has had to learn how everything works at Ferrari and meet the staff etc. while kimi knows how it from being there previous and last season, plus he would have had some input on this years car while seb hasn't and he has hit the ground running and I think that's how arrivabene is looking at it aswell.

[SectorOne]

The driver with the narrowest operating window i have ever seen in F1.
And the crazy part is that it seems it´s getting narrower over the years.

[Emmcee]

You know what, all you guys on this forum are the most professional I have spoke with, tell it how it's seen. The other forum iam a member of I get reticuled and abused for saying such things about kimi but all the things I have said have been said here, least I know on this forum people know what there talking about and not let personal obsessions get in the way of pure fact. It's been a breath of fresh air talking to you all.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

In a F1 where Pastor Maldonado is welcome, Kimi needs to be welcome too.

He's still scoring regularly and is not too far off the pace. I think Ferrari chose him because he's the trouble-free number 2 driver. Never going to complain, never going to make stupid comments. Furthermore he's got a large fan-base behind him which now roots for Ferrari, buying their caps and jerseys.

And we all know that Vettel and Kimi are in BIG love( get a long very well).

He's the best number 2 Ferrari could get.

Pastor, absolutely right benchmark to measure Kimi !!! If that is the league in which Kimi can be slotted, I have no problem and vote for Kimi to be there in F1.

There was a time when "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan was also followed by a great deal of people and he is still out there doing stunts once in a while. "Large fan-base"? Seriously? In the last decade, I haven't seen his name figuring in forbes as the most marketable athlete. Just because a handful of people keep chanting a name quite often doesn't make up for a big show.

Ferrari's new man Arrivabene was beating his chest sometime back, that there is equality for drivers. Of course he can do that with the complete knowledge in his mind that, Kimi would never challenge Vettel, because he is in fact a second rate driver. Kimi proved last year that he is a second rate and continues to prove this year too.

I hope this is the last year for Kimi in F1.

[bhall II]

...on this forum people know what there talking about and not let personal obsessions get in the way of pure fact. It's been a breath of fresh air talking to you all.

This should probably be considered an exception rather than the rule. Driver threads here don't ordinarily go so well.

(And there's still plenty of time for this one to regress toward the mean. )

My own impression is that, along with the natural effects of aging -- Father Time is undefeated -- Raikkonen just hasn't been the same since the formula changed in 2009. Prior to that, he was arguably F1's quickest driver, and I don't think anyone found his racecraft wanting...



Combined with a low-maintenance personality, he was perhaps the ideal driver. But, for whatever reason, that hasn't translated to the sport's new era.

I think the old formula definitely rewarded sheer talent a bit more than "racing IQ." So, maybe some drivers simply need cars that are too fast to allow for over-thinking. (Massa, too?)