kimi's worst days

[mx_tifoso]

Gee .. maybe his car just broke?????

It did just "break", thats the problem. Unreliable machinery was the reason he left McLaren and came to Ferrari. And now to find his F2007 suffering reliability issues and leaving him behind in the DC standings.

What if Kimi left Ferrari for good?

I doubt it to be honest. He has a contract, so I find that somewhat difficult, and improbable.

[Ray]

#2 - I think that the way a driver is has a tiny (unconscious) effect on his mechanics and engineers. If a driver is always there, always giving his best - then the mechanics will always be that tiny bit more careful. Conversley if a driver sends out the signal he is "just there to drive" - that little edge may be missing in car preparation.

I agree totally. We did not do bad, or incorrect maintenance, but when a pilot in one of our F-18s got out complaining, screw him. We would find any reason to down the jet next time he got in it. The smallest leak or loose fastener was grounds for an unsafe aircraft. Before anybody asks, we didn't do it on mission critical flights, just ones that weren't really important. If the pilots treated us badly, we didn't go above and beyond to give him a good jet. We just did what was required to have a safely repaired aircraft. If the guy got out and thanked us for a good jet and sympathize with us when everything went wrong for us, we loved the guy. We would do our damndest to make sure he had the best jet for his flight. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. As the saying goes.

[mx_tifoso]

Interesting words coming from Jackie Stewart, talking about LH, but at the end he notes the differences between a "Schumacher,Senna,Hamilton" and a "Raikkonen, the latter being more relaxed and laidback, not the most complete driver.

And Stewart believes that Hamilton's professionalism has put Kimi Raikkonen's more relaxed approach to the job in complete contrast.

"The way he lives his life is contrary to allowing him to put together the complete package, the kind that allowed Schumacher to win multiple championships, Senna and Prost, Jim Clark or even me. It is an attitude, a mentality, and a way of doing business. Our lifestyle, mind, make-up was different from a Raikkonen.

"That is why Hamilton has the opportunity to be dominant over time and Raikkonen doesn't, unless something substantial changes.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/58833

[DaveKillens]

Fangio always made it his policy to garner the loyalty of the team mechanics. He told them that they would receive ten percent of any winnings. During practice for the Italian Grand Prix he complained of a severe vibration but come race day the problem had completely disappeared. The mechanics had switched cars in the middle of the night and given Fangio's vibrating car to his teammate Bonetto.
http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/fangio_bio.htm
This is an example of how to do things right. Not just treat the mechanics as second-class employees, but as vital and integral part of the process of success. We see this many times during interviews with winning drivers. They make it a point to publicly thank and acknowledge the contributions of the mechanics. Trust me, they watch the interviews and reciprocate good will.
THis is just part of what it takes to be a successful driver. A driver has to make a 100% comittment to his craft during that period of his life. They have to mentally and physically train and prepare for the rigors of racing. They have to give absolute focus on their craft, anything else is just not good enough.
That being said, I don't believe that Kimi has any problems (right now). If any, it's the car and reliability. Give him a fast car that can finish, and he can do the rest.

[chepoi]

What if Kimi left Ferrari for good?

... and be McLaren 2nd TEST driver next year?
The pressure is not as heavy as the race driver.... i think....! .::LOL::.

[modbaraban]

What if Kimi left Ferrari for good?

... and be McLaren 2nd TEST driver next year?

that's right. Because DeLaRosa or Paffet (or both) might leave McL to race for Prodrive so someone's gotta do the hard work

[m3_lover]

Ray I love your avatar, where is that from?

[bizadfar]

Fangio always made it his policy to garner the loyalty of the team mechanics. He told them that they would receive ten percent of any winnings. During practice for the Italian Grand Prix he complained of a severe vibration but come race day the problem had completely disappeared. The mechanics had switched cars in the middle of the night and given Fangio's vibrating car to his teammate Bonetto.
http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/fangio_bio.htm
This is an example of how to do things right. Not just treat the mechanics as second-class employees, but as vital and integral part of the process of success. We see this many times during interviews with winning drivers. They make it a point to publicly thank and acknowledge the contributions of the mechanics. Trust me, they watch the interviews and reciprocate good will.
THis is just part of what it takes to be a successful driver. A driver has to make a 100% comittment to his craft during that period of his life. They have to mentally and physically train and prepare for the rigors of racing. They have to give absolute focus on their craft, anything else is just not good enough.
That being said, I don't believe that Kimi has any problems (right now). If any, it's the car and reliability. Give him a fast car that can finish, and he can do the rest.

Same thing with mansell and prost at ferrari. The mechanics swapped the cars when Prost had major handling issues without Mansell knowing till the first lap. Fangio seemed to me, just a more persuasive guy like Prost (okok he failed in Mclaren somewhat haha)

[dumrick]

Same thing with mansell and prost at ferrari. The mechanics swapped the cars when Prost had major handling issues without Mansell knowing till the first lap. Fangio seemed to me, just a more persuasive guy like Prost (okok he failed in Mclaren somewhat haha)

Who failed at McLaren? Prost? 3 WDC's don't sound like failing, to me...

On topic, it's indeed paramount for a driver to have group-oriented mind and to be empathic with the whole team. After all, it isn't just the driver crashing out that keeps him from winning. A slight overlook on the tightening torque of a screw and the result is the same. Success and safety of all team members rely on the shoulders of all.

[bizadfar]

Same thing with mansell and prost at ferrari. The mechanics swapped the cars when Prost had major handling issues without Mansell knowing till the first lap. Fangio seemed to me, just a more persuasive guy like Prost (okok he failed in Mclaren somewhat haha)

Who failed at McLaren? Prost? 3 WDC's don't sound like failing, to me...

On topic, it's indeed paramount for a driver to have group-oriented mind and to be empathic with the whole team. After all, it isn't just the driver crashing out that keeps him from winning. A slight overlook on the tightening torque of a screw and the result is the same. Success and safety of all team members rely on the shoulders of all.

I'm saying he lost in the politics (vs Senna) within the team, that's pretty much why he left.

[checkered]

I don’t know. Of course it’s human that attitude, mood etc. reflects on performance, but therein lies the challenge. People need to look beyond themselves and beyond their immediate surroundings. I suppose the “winning tenth” isn’t found easy, it’s found in the areas that are the hardest. Personally and professionally. What, exactly, is “above and beyond”? I might be stupid, but to me it’s doing something when it’s all but certain there’s no personal reward for what you’re doing.

Things have a way of coming around. A driver/ a pilot will get a very distorted impression on the fragility of his equipment if the slightest reason, save for a correctly timed smile at the right direction, is reason enough for “grounding”. He will eventually either begin to think that the equipment is supposed to fail regularly and treat it accordingly, or start to feel insecure and complain about the slightest anomaly he perceives. All this adds to the workload and what’s worse, might make actual problems intractable. Sometimes, someone just has to decide which came first, the chicken or the egg and stick with it.

There are too many times times to count when I’ve let the attitude of others affect my morale, no two ways about it. It’s just that every now and then everyone finds, by chance, opportunity or design, a way to snap out of it. And sometimes it makes all the difference, be it a call of duty or just a measly racing team.

[emburmak]

The brutal fact is drivers rarely if ever accept that their teammates are quicker. If LH was a few tenths slower than Alonso's current pace and likewise Massa was the same to KR as expected, we would not be hearing this bucket full of excuses. KR has tested longer than anybody on the new tires, how much more does he want before he has 'adapted'?

The simple fact is their teammates have extracted more from the package and instead of KR & FA looking inside themselves for the problem, they push the blame on the 'usual suspects'. KR in particular really has to get his act together; in both quali and the starts, he has been to put it mildly, poor. Although most hope otherwise, IMO, I for one do not see much hope of change this season to the status quo. LH will remain a match for FA, while FM will remain marginally the quicker driver at Ferrari.

[rkn]

couldnt agree more, though at least Alonso remains humble and is looking like he wants to improve. KR openly says that he is not going to start analysing poblems he has had. That can't be very good for his championship campaign can it.

He should at least take a good look at his three latest starts and find out how he can improve them. The mclarens have passed him without effort. Notice that he warms his tyres much less than the other frontrunners
It's the small things that matter in life

His laidback-ness is cool but only to some extent. His fans have seen him lose out, again and again over issues that could have been prevented. He owes it to his fans to show that he can win a championship. Its not like he doesnt have the tools...

[m3_lover]

on motorsports.com in the photos section of wednesday it shows pictures of Kimi walking through a crowd of fans and not signing one autograph. Guy needs to realize the sport is about the fans and not about the drivers ego.

[ds.raikkonen]

Probably thats why hes called the Iceman!!..yeah its not good, but thats the way he is, cant change it